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THE    LIFE 


GEORGE  M.  TROUP. 


BY 

EDWARD  J.  HARDEN. 


SAYA.\\AJI: 

K.  J.   IM'IISE,  \o.  <>  WHITAKER  STREET. 
MDCCOLIX. 


for  tli- 


TO 


T  ROM  A  S     M  .    F  ()  K  M  A  N  .    B  8  .. 


DK.    I).     H.    IJ.    T  IIOUP. 


i  s    M  o  r  I; 


IS  RESPECTFULLY  DEDICATED. 


8808 


PREFACE. 

THE  biography  of  GEORGE  M.  TIIOUP  is  submitted  to  the  pub- 
lic, iu  the  hope  that  it  will  be  useful,  and  that  its  defects  will  be 
indulgently  considered.  Undertaken  at  the  request  of  friends, 
whose  opinions  are  worthy  of  regard,  the  work  has  grown  to  pro- 
portions not  at  first  foreseen ;  and  much  of  the  labor  lias  arisen 
from  the  difficulty  of  deciding  what  portions  of  a  mass  of  mate- 
rials, could,  with  least  injury  be  omitted.  Taking  into  view  the 
length  of  time  Governor  TROUP  was  before  the  public,  and  the 
important  m  \isuics  hi  which  he  acted,  this  difficulty  is  easily 
seen. 

Little  merit  is  claimed  for  the  work,  beyond  the  labor  of  a 
compilation.  Governor  THOUP  is  generally  permitted  to  speak 
for  himself:  few  speak  so  well;  none  more  truthfully.  It  is 
possible,  undue  prominence  has  iven  to  some  portion.-;  of 

his  history;  but  it  is  hoped  no  important  part  of  his  public  life 
has  been  omitted.  His  private  correspondence  must  have  been 
extensive ;  arid,  without  doubt,  much  of  it  has  be^n  irrecoverably 
lost.  Some  of  his  letters,  written  in  the  privacy  of  friendship, 
axe,  for  the  first  time,  published ;  and  they  contribute  no  little  to 
the  interest  of  his  biography.  This  interest  would  have  been 
increased  by  the  publication  of  other  private  letters — especially 
those  relating  to  agriculture,  in  which  their  author  felt  deep 
concern ;  but  this  was  forbidden  by  the  prescribed  limits  of  this 
volume. 

To  preserve  connection  in  the  history,  and  present  its  facts  in 
their  order,  documents  have  been  interwoven  in  the  body  of  the 
work ;  and  they  constitute  its  principal  value.  With  a  view  to 
bring  the  volume  into  .suitable  compass,  and  a  desire  not  to 
give  matters  merely  political  too  great  preference,  some  of  the 
documents  have  been  put  in  an  Appendix  in  small  type. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  state  that  the  book  has  been  printed 
wholly  in  Savannah ;  or  to  express  the  hope  that  it  will  be  found 
as  free  from  typographical  errors  as  books  usually  are.  Even  in 
printed  copies  of  the  same  document,  disagreements  have  been 
found  ;  thus  adding  greatly  to  the  labor  of  determining  the  true 


PBBI 

reading.     An  abbreviated  designation  has  been  used  to  distinguish 
original  i. 

The  fac-simile  of  <i»yern.  .nature,    which    accom- 

panies   the   engraved   til  -    taken    troni    a  letter  written   in 

lxll.      Smie  year-   later,  and  down  to  the  period  of  his  death,  he 
usually,  it'  ii"t  uniformly,  employed  only  the   initial   letters  of  his 
•i  name. 

•he  many  i  in  the  work,  this 

return  -im.-Te  thank-  ;   but  '  -Sally 

due  to  Majur   \V.  .} .   M       i  .    Hun.   JOHN  ('.    NIC..I.I..   I.    K. 

"'•  .  ('.  PAMi.i.i..  .).    1{ AMU.:  !'.-'[.. 

I'lMMIN.,.     K>.|..    TlK-MAS     \I.      1'i.lt- 

.    Hun.    •''•  ixiN.  (iu\,-rnur  UiiuwN. 

K.  \\.  il;  •  \..    HAKIUS.    K>,j..    |)r,  .!•.!• 

\V.   S.    HAMKI.!,  and  -I" 
'.vill    show   a   part   of  tl; 
\>r.   I>A\I!  i.!..  Mr.  Cm  IM  : 

furni-  ,'  a  hiindr  :..  him-elf  fruin  <i  •  ::ui  p. 

!i  will   It,- 

-  TK<>I  iv 

t'iirnislie.1    by     Air.    TK; 
invaluabl.  :i  wliuin.  a<  well   as   .hi  j         u..    important 

-nation    h-  Nil-.     Up 

men;-  .  for  full   iiles  uf  t!;  .'     irnal   from    1VL 

I'.    HAIIKISON  and    HI-:\KY   Wn.i.i  • 

!  liable   duL'UM, 

[nibliean  ;   and  tu  THK  <iK"KC,iA  Hj.-Toltl- 
it«  library  and  ]>aj 

: 


MI  pago 
'  pajro  299,  ninth  I  . 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  I.  Birth — Parentage— His  Boyhood — Academic.  Collegiate  and  Legal  Education — 
.-Vrvice  in  the  Legislature — Marriage — Death  of  his  first  wife.  &c.,  Ac 1 — 13. 

CHAPTER  II.  Early  Career  as  a  public  man — Election  to  Congress — Political  Kelations — Traits 
nf  Character 14—21. 

CfJAi'TER  III.  State  of  the  Country — Foreign  Relations — Meeting  of  Congress  in  1807— Em- 
bargo—Mr.  Tronp'a  SpeecheB — Letter  to  Mr.  Harris,  and  to  Gov.  Mitchell — Army  Bill — 
Gunboat  System 22 — 17. 

CHAPTER  IV.  Yaxoo  Fraud — Its  history — Claims  growing-  out  of  it,  before  Congress — Speech 
of  Mr.  Randolph — Mr.  Troup's  Course  and  Speeches  on  that  subject — Settlement  of 
Claims 48—84. 

CHAPTER  V.  lie-election  to  Congress — Mr.  Madison's  Presidential  term — State,  of  Foreign 
Relations— Preparations  fur  War — Mr.  Troup's  Speeches  and  Letters— Non-intercourse — 
Hank  of  the  United  States  8S— 104. 

CHAPTER  VI.  lie-election  to  Congress,  in  1810 — Congress  Convened  by  the  Preaideilt— Threat- 
ening posture  of  Foreign  Relations — Mr.  Tror.p  advocates  strong  measures — Letters  to  Gov. 
Mitchell — Speeches  on  Enlistment  and  the  Militia — Declaration  of  war — Speeches  on  En- 
listment of  minors,  mid  <>i\  Army  Bill— Defences  of  the  Country 105— 1"2 

Cii.U'TicR  VII.  Re-election  to  Congress,  in  1812 — Appointed  Chairman  of  Military  Committee 
in  the  House— Progress  of  the  War — Speeches  on  war  measures— Capture  of  Washington 
City— Enlistment  and  Conscription— Letter  to  Gen  .  Mitchell— Battle  of  New  Orleans — 
Close  of  the  war — Military  Peace  Establishment— Mr.  Troiip's  Retirement  from  Congress. 
&c 133— 158. 

CHAPTER  VIII.  Election  to  U.  S.  Senate,  over  Dr.  Bibb— Course  in  that  Body— African  Slave 
Trade  "Concert" — Mr.  Troup's  Speeches  thereon — Resignation — State  of  Parties  in  Georgia 
— William  H.  Crawford — Gov.  Clark — Col.  Troup  a  candidate  for  Governor—Defeated  in 
1819,  and  again  in  1821 — Elected  Governor  in  1S23,  by  the  Legislature — Internal  Improve- 
ment—Land  Lottery 159 — 193. 

CHAPTER  IX.  Beginning  of  Indian  Difficulties— Cherokee  Controversy— Correspondence  on 
that  subject — Federal  Relations — Slavery  Agitation  by  Ohio  Legislature — First  Annual  Mes- 
sage of  Gov.  Troup — Election  of  Governor  given  to  the  People — Commissioners  appointed 
to  treat  with  the  Creeks — Governor  rei|iiested  (o  receive  L:\Fayette,  &c.,  &<• 194 — 253 

CHAPTER  X.  Treaty  concluded  with  the  Creek  Indians — Disturbances  growing  out  of  it — 
Precautions  of  the  Governor — Murder  of  Mclntosh  and  others — Governor's  Reception  of 
LaFayetto — Extra  Session  of  the  Legislature — Governor's  Message — Recommendations — 
Views  on  Slavery  Question — Governor  Troup,  Judge  Berrien  and  Mr.  Wirt — Proceedings  of 
the  Legislature — Major  Andrews  and  General  Gaines  at  Milledgeville — Governor's  corres- 
pondence with  them  and  the  Government  at  Washington,  begun,  &c. — Case  of  the  Indian 
>f 254—333 


•:;••  •    v,;tli    t! 

.  Ac. — 

Mcswage — L-  ; 


• 
:    "jiOK'Icncp-    I 

! 


LIFE   OF   GEORGE   M.   TROUP. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Birth,  Parentage,  Education,  and   First   Appearance   in  Public 

Life. 

BY  the  Charter  of  the  Province,  the  boundaries  of  Georgia 
included  all  that  territory  "  which  lies  from  the  most 
northern  part  of  a  stream,  or  river  there,  commonly  called 
the  Savannah,  all  along  the  seacoast  to  the  southward,  to 
the  southern  stream  of  a  certain  other  great  water  or  river, 
called  the  Alatamaha,  and  westwardly  from  the  heads  of 
the  said  rivers  respectively,  in  direct  lines  to  the  South  seas ; 
and  all  that  share,  circuit  and  precinct  of  land,  within  the 
said  boundaries,  with  the  islands  on  the  sea,  lying  opposite 
to  the  eastern  coast  of  the  said  lands,  within  twenty  leagues 
of  the  same,  which  are  not  inhabited  already,  or  settled  by 
any  authority  derived  from  the  Crown  of  Great  Britain,"  &c. 

By  a  royal  proclamation,  dated  the  seventh  day  of  Octo- 
ber, 1763,  "  all  the  lands  lying  between  the  rivers  Alata- 
maha and  St.  Mary's,"  were  added  to  the  province  of 
Georgia. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  remark  that  the  term  "  South 
seas  "  *  conveyed  no  definite  idea  of  the  western  boundary 
of  the  province,  or  that  the  claim  under  that  description 
never  extended,  practically,  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi 
river.  Accordingly,  we  find  that,  by  the  fourth  article  of 
the  Treaty  between  the  United  States  and  Spain,  dated  the 
27th  October,  1795,  "it  is  likewise  agreed  that  the  western 
boundary  of  the  United  States  which  separates  them  from 
the  Spanish  colony  of  Louisiana,  is  in  the  middle  of  the 

*  The  Pacific  Ocean  \vas  originally  called  the  South  Sea. — ED. 


2  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROT  [CHAP.  I. 

channel  or  bed  of  the  ri .  'ssippi,  from  the  northern 

boundary  of  the  said  States  to  the  completion  of  the  thirty- 
first  degree  of  latitude  north  of  the  equator.''  And  l>y  the 
Constitution  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  adopted  the  J'.i'th  day 

iv.  17:'N  the  boundaries  of  the  State  were  set  out  as 
follow:- :  ••  that  is  to  say,  the  limits,  boundaries,  jurisdiction 
and  authority,  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  do  and  did,  and  of 

•  ought  to  extend  from  the  sea,  or  the  mouth   of  the 
river  Savannah,   along  the   northern    branch   or    -tream 
thereof,  to  the  fork  or  continence  of  the  rivers  now  called 
Tugalo  and   Keowee,  and  from  thence  aloi, 
northern  branch  or  stream  of  the  said  river  Tugalo.  till  it 
intersects  the  northern  boundary  line  of  > 
the  said  branch  or  t-tream  of  Tugalo  extends  so  far  north, 
reserving  all  the  islands  in  the  said  rivers  Savannah  and 
Tugalo  to  Georgia;  but  if  the  hea 
branch  or  stream  of  the  said  rivrr  TiiLra! 

te  northern  boundar  •!'  South  Carolina,  t! 

west  line  to  the  Mississippi  to  be  drawn  from  the  i 
spring  or  source  of  the  said  branch  or  strea  Mgalo 

.    whi.-li    extends  to   the  higher  :n    hit  it 

'•edown  the  middle  of  the  said  river  Mississippi  until 
it  shall  intersect  the  northernmo-1 

ce  of  north  latitude;  south  by  a  line  drawn 
from    the    termination    of  the    line  last  n  'i,   in  the 

;de  of  thirty-one  degrees  north  of  th  r,  to  the 

middle  of  the  river  Apalachicola  or  Chatta 

„'  the  middle  thereof  to  its  junction  with  Flint  i 
thence  straight  to  the  head  of  St.  Mary's  river,  and  thence 

_:  the  middle  of  St.  Mary's  river  t  'antic  o< 

and  from  thence  t 

the  place  of  beginning;  including  and  comprehend!!:, 
the  lands  and  waters  within  the  said  limits,  boundaries  and 

fictional  and  aNo  all  the  islands  within  twenty 

>f  the  seacoast." 

At  the  time  of  <  '.]>'<  l>irth,  sth  September,  1  7V". 

all  the  country  west  of  the  present  western  boundary  of 
Georgia  (except  a  small  portion  of  "\Vest  Florida,)  and 


CHAP.  I.]  BIRTH,   PARENTAGE,    &C.  3 

within  the  limits  aforesaid,  were  within  the  acknowledged 
limits  of  that  State.  It  was  within  the  bounds  of  the  present 
State  of  Alabama,  then  a  part  of  the  territory  of  Georgia, 
that  he  was  born. 

The  following  letter  to  Col.  Pickett,  the  historiographer 
of  Alabama,  will  show  this  fact  and  the  precise  spot  of  his 
nativity  more  clearly.  The  statement  of  Col.  Pickett 
having  been  questioned,  he  wrote  to  Gov.  Troup  on  the 
subject,  and  received  the  following  reply : 

YALDOSTA,  November  5th,  1852. 
Col.  A.  J.  Pickett, 

Dear  Sir :  I  have  uniformly  said  to  those  who  have 
appealed  to  me  for  facts  connected  with  the  history  of 
persons  and  things  in  past  time,  and  particularly  such  as 
relate  to  myself  and  family,  that  I  have  not  a  scrap  of  paper 
in  the  form  of  a  record,  memorial  or  authentic  manuscript, 
that  has  been  preserved  for  the  purpose,  or,  indeed,  any 
whatever,  to  my  knowledge,  spared  by  time,  or  by  those 
yet  more  active  destroyers,  rats  and  mice.  I  must  except 
the  Bible,  treasured  by  every  family,  and  thus  saved  from 
the  wasting  influences  of  both.  I  have  one  of  these,  an  old 
Oxford  edition  of  1772,  in  which  is  found  recorded,  in  the 
hand-writing  (the  most  beautiful  and  legible  I  ever  saw,) 
of  my  father,  the  birth-place  of  six  of  his  children.  I 
copied  this,  word  for  word,  into  a  new  family  Bible,  and 
now  have  both  before  me.  The  following  is  a  literal 
extract  from  the  former,  and  all  that  appears  in  my  father's 
hand-writing. 

"  John  Mclntosh  Troup,  born  the  3d  of  December,  1778, 
at  Mobile  in  "West  Florida. 

"  George  Michael  Troup,  born  at  Mclntosh's  Bluff,  on 
the  river  Tombigby,  8th  of  September,  1780. 

"  David  Troup,  born  at  London,  8th  November,  1781. 

"  Roderick  William  Troup.  born  at  Charleston,  South 
Carolina,  on  Friday  the  28th  of  February,  1783,  at  half- 
past  three  o'clock  in  the  morning. 

"  Robert  Lachlan  Troup,  born  at  Savannah,  the day 

of  December,  1784. 


4  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CnAP.  I. 

"  John  James  McGillivray  Troup,  born  at  Savannah,  the 
31st  of  August,  1786." 

You  would  not  receive  an  historical  fact  better  authenti- 
cated. It  was  the  possession  of  this  Bible  which  embold- 
ened me  to  send  you  anything  for  your  history,  touching 
the  life  of  myself  and  family.  Its  chronology  and  register 
of  places  rendered  it  invaluable.  It  seems  that  mother  or 
father,  or  both,  were  in  Mobile  in  1778 ;  at  Mclntosh's 
Bluff,  on  the  Tombigby,  in  1780 ;  at  London  in  1781 ;  at 
Charleston  in  the  early  part  of  1783 ;  at  Savannah  in  1 T 
and  in  Savannah  still  in  1786 ;  and,  finally,  that  1m  in-- 
removed from  Savannah,  he  was  (although  not  in  his  hand- 
writing, but  in  the  hand-writing  of  his  chief  clerk,  an 
enlightened  and  educated  man,)  in  1778  in  Mclntosh 
county,  (old  Georgia,  if  you  please,)  at  his  residence  called 
Belleville,  where  he  lived,  died,  and  was  buried. 

Thus  you  have,  upon  what  I  consider  unquestionable 
evidence,  the  fact  of  my  birth-place,  to  which  I  never 
ascribed  any  importance,  and  in  which  I  could  not  imagine 
that  any,  out  of  our  family,  would  feel  the  least  interest. 
I  never,  for  any  moment  of  my  life,  doubted  that  I  was 
born  on  the  Tombigby.  I  was  as  much  a  native  of  Georgia 
as  if  born  on  the  southern  bank  of  the  Savannah  river, 
where  Oglethorpe  built  his  town,  whether  in  possession  and 
under  the  jurisdiction  of  Spaniards,  Englishmen  or  Ameri- 
cans. The  English  occupation  was  short-lived,  and  acquired 
by  force.  Our  constitutional  and  chartered  rights  were 
undoubted,  and  were  never  to  be  surrendered  without  our 
consent.  The  civilians  may  differ,  but,  if  driven  to  the 
wall,  I  would  be  a  Georgian  or  Alabamian  by  the  law  of 
Postliminium.  You  will  see  that  what  the  registry  of  the 
family  Bible  exhibits,  I  implicitly  adopt.  "What  I  had 
presumed  to  submit  to  you  from  the  store-house  of  my  frail 
memory,  I  deemed  unreliable,  and  already  I  think  that 
errors  may  be  detected  in  that  part  which  relates  to  the 
connection  and  alliances  between  the  different  branches  of 
the  Mclntoshes — a  part  which  could  only  have  been  learned 
from  my  family  and  their  friends,  and  in  my  earlier  life. 


CHAP.  I.]  BIRTH,    PARENTAGE,   &C.  5 

Major  William  Mclntosh,  of  Savannah,  son  of  Col.  John, 
and  brother  of  the  late  Colonel  who  fell  so  gallantly  under 
the  walls  of  Mexico,  can,  better  than  anybody  else,  make 
the  correction,  and,  if  they  interest  you  at  all,  you  can  use 
them  as  you  please.  There  have  been  other  mistakes 
besides  the  birth-place,  and  more  amusing.  Some  of  my 
kind  friends,  to  assure  themselves  of  my  personal  identity, 
have  set  me  down  in  print  and  in  writing  with  a  middle 
name  which  I  do  not  answer  to,  and  Mclntosh  has  been 
preferred  to  Michael,  on  account,  I  presume,  of  my  mother's 
name  and  genealogy,  and  my  known  connection  with  that 
family. 

But  certainly  I  have  written  enough  on  this  subject, 
writing  from  a  sick  bed,  and  snatching  intervals  of  pain. 
First,  your  urgent  request ;  second,  the  claims  of  truth, 
even  in  little  things ;  and  third,  the  gratification  of  grati- 
fying the  rational  and  harmless  curiosity  of  esteemed 
friends,  will  be  my  apology,  which  will,  I  think,  have  been 
anticipated  before  you  come  to  it.  Yet  I  cannot  close  it 
without  saying  that  my  friend,  Col.  J.  W.  Jackson,  had 
written  a  memoir,  published  in  White's  Statistics  of  Georgia, 
in  which  he  not  only  eschews  the  mistake,  but  gives  the 
true  place  and  time  as  if  from  the  original.  No  man  is 
more  sensitive  to  every  omission  or  departure  from  truth, 
and  it  would  have  pained  him  to  have  committed  the  most 
innocent  error.  This  work,  entirely  of  his  own  observation 
and  research,  according  to  the  best  lights  extant,  (I  could 
afford  him  nothing,)  was  the  offspring  of  an  affluence  of 
friendship,  was  penned  with  a  sedulous  regard  to  matter  of 
fact,  and  lofty  disdain  of  everything  that  would  savor  of 
flattery  or  embellishment.  Whilst  he  has  most  happily 
succeeded  in  the  first,  he  may  not,  with  all  his  care,  have 
been  so  entirely  successful  in  the  last ;  but,  as  far  as  it  goes, 
and  as  far  as  it  purposed,  it  is  a  true  history,  and  greatly 
better  than  any  I  could  have  written  myself,  and  has  saved 
me  a  vast  deal  of  trouble. 

Yery  truly  and  respectfully,  your  friend, 

G.  M.  Troup. 


g  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTJP.  [CHAP.  I. 

P.  S.  It  surprised  me  exceedingly,  that  you  should  have 
found  among  the  old  white  Indian  traders,  any  memorial  or 
tradition  of  our  family,  although  we  had  an  uncle  who 
was  one  of  them— an  uncle  on  our  mother's  side,  and  named 
Mclntosh— a  very  respectable  man,  I  believe,  for  I  never 
saw  him  but  once,  when  a  very  small  boy,  he  came  from 
the  Nation  on  a  visit  to  my  mother.  He  must  have  been 
the  son  of  Capt.  John,  of  Mclntosh  Bluff.  It  is  yet  more 
remarkable  they  should  have  corroborated  our  Bible. 
they  assuredly  did,  when  they  said  I  was  taken  from  the 
Tombigby  when  I  was  two  or  three  years  old.  A  few 
years  after,  I  was  a  child  at  school  with  Miss  Stuart  at 
Savannah.  G-.  M.  T. 

The  reader  having  been  thus  introduced  to  Major  W.  J. 
Mclntosh,  of  Savannah,  we  prefer  to  continue  this  narrative 
in  his  own  words,  reduced  to  writing  at  the  request  of  the 

author,  and  bearing  date 

SAVANXAH,  1st  February,  1858. 

Dear  Sir  :  In  compliance  with  your  request  respecting 
my  recollections  of  the  early  life  of  the  late  Gov.  Troup, 
of  Georgia,  I  will  reply  briefly  and  as  accurately  as  I  can 
in  connection  with  his  family,  but  must  go  hack  prior  to 
the  first  settlement  of  Georgia  by  its  founder,  General 
Oglethorpe,  to  trace  his  descent,  especially  on  his  mr.ther's 
side,  whose  family  was  a  branch  of  the  Mclntoshes  of 
Borlam,  Inverness,  Scotland  ;  and  I  feel  myself  also  called 
on  by  Gov.  Troup,  in  a  letter  to  Col.  A.  J.  Pickett,  the 
historian  of  Alabama,  to  state  the  connection  of  the  two 
families.  And  this  induces  me,  necessarily,  to  introduce 
the  name  of  Mclntosh  so  prominently,  in  speaking  of  this 
truly  great  and  good  man. 

Of  his  father's  descent  or  history  I  know  but  little  ; 
though,  when  a  young  boy,  I  was  often  in  his  house,  a  play- 
mate of  his  sons,  at  his  residence  called  Belleville,  a 
beautiful  site  on  Sapelo  river  in  the  county  of  Mclntosh — 
which  name  it  still  bears,  but  long  since  passed  from  the 
proprietorship  of  his  family.  The  axe,  neglect,  and  the 


CHAP.  I.]  BIRTH,    PARENTAGE,    &C.  f 

ravages  of  time  have  left  it  but  a  faint  picture  of  what  it 
was  when  forest-clad,  and  under  the  improving  hand  of 
Mr.  Troup.  Here  he  became  a  planter,  here  he  died, 
and  here  his  remains  were  interred.  He  bore  the  repu- 
tation of  a  well-bred  and  honorable  gentleman,  born  and 
educated  in  England  ;  and  at  one  period  of  his  life  was 
extensively  and  successfully  engaged  in  commerce,  but 
was  never  for  any  length  of  time  confined  to  one  locality. 
He  married  Catharine,  the  daughter  of  Captain  John 
Mclntosh,  and  we  find  from  an  old,  well-preserved  Bible — 
the  family  record — that  although  Mr.  Troup  had  six  sons, 
no  two  were  born  in  the  same  place,  except  the  two 
youngest. 

These  sons  are  all  deceased.  The  Governor,  who  sur- 
vived his  brothers,  was  called  George  Mclntosh  Troup, 
from  his  known  connection  with  the  family,  instead  of 
George  Michael,  his  real  middle  name.  His  eldest  brother 
it  was  who  bore  the  name  of  Mclntosh  after  his  grand- 
father. The  initial  of  their  middle  names  being  the  same, 
the  unimportant  mistake  was  easily  made,  but  was  never 
adopted  or  sanctioned  by  the  Governor  himself. 

Mr.  Troup,  the  father,  married,  as  before  stated,  Catha- 
rine, the  daughter  of  Captain  John  Mclntosh,  brother  of  the 
eccentric  Captain  Roderick  Mclntosh,  of  the  British  army, 
commonly  called  Rory,  with  whom  the  late  Mr.  John 
Couper,  of  St.  Simon's  Island,  a  distinguished  and  intelli- 
gent planter,  was  well  acquainted  during  the  Revolutionary 
war,  and  of  whom  he  gives  some  amusing  anecdotes  in 
White's  Historical  Collections.  Mrs.  Troup's  father  and 
his  eccentric  brother  were  relations  of  John  More  Mclntosh, 
the  progenitor  of  the  name  in  Georgia,  and  who  served 
under  General  Oglethorpe,  as  commander  of  the  High- 
landers, in  their  battles  with  the  troops  of  Spain  in  Georgia 
and  in  Florida.  Many  of  this  clan  suffered  severely  in  the 
Rebellion  of  1715  and  in  that  of  '45,  in  consequence  of  their 
adhesion  to  the  interest  of  the  Stuarts,  and  taking  up  arms 
in  their  cause  under  the  Earl  of  Mar  against  the  Hanoverian 
succession  to  the  crown  of  England ;  not  because  those 


g  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUT.  [CnAr.  I. 

Highlanders  believed  in  the  "Divine  right »  of  their  kings, 
but  the  right  to  war  against  the  usurpation  of  a  throne,  the 
rightful  heir  to  which  they  believed  to  be  a  descendant 
the  House  of  Stuart. 

Captain  John  Mclntosh  had  also  a  son,  William,  broil 
of  Mrs.  Troup,  and  who  was  a  captain  in  the  British  army, 
and  also  an  agent  of  that  government,  under  Col.  Stuart,  to 
theMuscogee  or  Creek  nation  of  Indians  during  the  Revo- 
lutionary war,  and  who  was  the  father  of  the  Indian  Chief, 
Gen.  William  Mclntosh,  the  friend  of  civilization  among 
his  own  people,  and  the  friend  of  Georgia,  and  who  won 
for  himself  a  Brigadier's    commission    from  the  United 
States,  by  bravely  fighting  against  and  subduing  the  hostile 
Indian  tribes  in  Georgia,  in  Alabama  and  in  Florida,  under 
Gen.  Jackson.     This  warrior-chief  had  a  brother  named 
after  his  grand-uncle,   the   eccentric   Captain  Rory,  and 
who,  it  has  been  said,  was  in  council  what  his  brother  was 
in  the  field.    These  men  were  the  first  (Indian)  cousins  of 
Gov.  Troup,  and  it  was  remarked  of  their  father,  the  Gov- 
ernor's uncle,  that  he  was  a  "brave  and  generous  man, 
and  was  qualified,  physically  and  morally,  to  have  iigurod 
in  the  most  desperate  strife."    This  gentleman,  after  the 
Revolutionary  war,  married  a  sister  of  the  late  Gen.  John 
Mclntosh,  of  the  Revolution,  which  drew  closer  the  con- 
necting tie  of  the  two  families. 

The  father*  of  Gov.  Troup, though  often  removing  from 
place  to  place,  was  a  lover  of  books,  and  had  secured  a 
well  selected  little  library  for  his  residence  at  Belleville, 
where  his  son  George  received  the  rudiments  of  his  early 
education,  under  the  guidance  of  a  private  tutor  and  the  eye 
of  his  father  ;  and  in  this  library,  where  he  had  free  access, 
he  acquired  the  taste  for  reading,  and  that  delight  in  books, 
not  usual  with  boys  of  his  age.  His  hours  of  relaxation 
from  study  were  spent  with  his  horse,  his  dogs  and  his  gun, 
in  the  use  of  which  he  was  indulged  by  his  father,  his  oldest 

*  Tt  seems  that   this  gentleman    was  at  one;  time  mir:i.iil    in  m.Trant 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  Sunlrary,  Oa.,    with   Col.  John  Baker,  of   Liberty  county,  vli<>  ill"! 
in  the  year  1792.— ED. 


CHAP.  I.]  BIRTH,  PARENTAGE,  &c.  0 

brother  having  died  early,  and  the  others  being  too  young 
to  participate  fully  in  their  enjoyment.  He  was  afterwards 
sent  to  school  in  Savannah,  and,  at  a  proper  age,  to  Eras- 
mus Hall,  an  academy  then  of  great  repute  in  Flatbush,  on 
Long  Island,  New  York,  where  many  youths  of  the  South 
were  educated ;  at  the  head  of  which  was  Doctor  Peter 
Wilson,  an  elderly  and  religious  Scotch  gentleman  of  great 
learning,  afterwards  of  Columbia  College  in  the  city  of 
New  York. 

The  Doctor  was  a  stern,  unbending  Republican,  much 
respected  by  the  students ;  and  many  of  them  here  doubtless 
took  their  bias,  and  imbibed  their  predilections  in  favor  of 
the  cause  he  was  known  to  espouse ;  and  during  the  contest 
for  the  Presidency,  between  Mr.  Adams  and  Mr.  Jefferson, 
and  when  the  excitement  was  high  and  boisterous  in  Flat- 
bush,  amongst  the  village  politicians,  there  were  frequent 
gatherings  to  discuss  the  claims  of  the  candidates.  "When 
these  were  seen,  and  young  Troup  could  by  any  means  be 
present,  there  he  would  be,  amongst  the  old  men,  ready  to 
engage  in  argument,  and  could  scarcely  be  restrained  by 
older  heads  and  less  excited  friends,  from  mingling  in  the 
crowd  and  taking  part  in  the  discussion,  unmindful  or  re- 
gardless of  the  danger  to  which  his  youth  and  h'ery  zeal  in 
favor  of  Mr.  Jefferson,  would  expose  him.  I  was  at  Flat- 
bush  with  him,  and  frequently  witnessed  the  great  concern 
he  manifested  for  the  success  of  the  Republican  candidate. 

He  was  of  a  slender  frame,  fair  complexion,  good  figure, 
and  rather  handsome ;  of  a  feeling  heart,  and  susceptible 
of  the  kindest  emotions.  He  was  studious,  and  of  a  warm 
temperament,  polite  and  friendly  to  his  fellow-students,  but 
never  seemed  to  have  formed  any  close,  boyish  or  bosom 
friendships,  so  common  among  youths  of  his  age ;  inclined 
to  taciturnity  and  reflection,  though  not  backward  in  the 
enjoyment  of  the  manlier  sports  of  the  time.  He  was 
exceedingly  tenacious  of  his  honor ;  and  any  reflection 
calculated  to  impair  it,  would  be  instantly  met  by  a  pun- 
gent reproof,  in  a  seemingly  quiet  way,  yet  sufficiently 
significant  of  his  determination,  if  the  insult  were  not 
2 


1Q  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROFP.  [CHAP.  I. 

retracted,  to  proceed  to  extreme  measures ;  and  his  decision 
of  character  was  so  well  known,  that  he  never  had  the 
trouble  of  doing  more.  I  never  knew  him  to  be  concerned 
in  any  senseless,  wicked  or  mischievous  act,  that  would 
reflect  discredit  on  his  name,  or  involve  him  in  unpleasant 
scrapes,  which  were  common  enough  then  and  there  ;  ami 
when  he  thought  himself  sufficiently  advanced  in  his 
studies  for  college,  he  left  Erasmus  Hall,  for  Princeton, 
with  an  unsullied  reputation.  It  was  supposed,  by  his 
associates,  that  he  would  not  look  higher,  on  entering  col- 
lege, than  the  Sophomore  class;  but  they  were  soon 
surprised,  on -learning,  that,  without  difficulty,  he  became 
a  member  of  the  Junior  class ;  and  in  due  time  he  •rni'iu- 
ated  with  distinction. 

He  returned  to  Georgia,  and  commenced  the  study  of 
law  in  Mr.  Noel's  office  in  Savannah  ;  and,  whilst  so  en- 
gaged, he  wrote  many  political  essays,  over  the  signature 
of  Z,  much  admired  as  coming  from  so  young  .1  man. 
About  this  time,  he  was  appointed,  by  his  friend  and 
patron,  Gen.  James  Jackson,  then  Governor  of  Georgia. 
and  the  scourge  of  evil-doers,  his  Aid,  with  the  tit  e  of 
Colonel,  then  considered  more  honorable  than  now,  from 

the  indiscriminate  manner  in  which  the  title  is  conferred. 

•::•          •::-          •:•:•          •::•          -:;•          •:•:-          •:*          •::•          #          •:-:-          * 

Emerging  from  his  minority,  in  1801,  he  was  elected  to 
the  Legislature,  where  he  at  once  occupied  a  high  position. 
In  1S04-,  he  removed  to  Bryan  county,  having  prcvi< 
married  Miss  McCcrmick  ;  and,  as  soon  as  constitutionally 
eligible,  was  elected  to  Congress,  of  which  he  was  a  mem- 
ber until  1815,  when  he  retired  to  private  life.  His  support 
was  given  to  the  administrations  of  Mr.  Jefferson  and  Mr. 
Madison ;  and  he  possessed  the  entire  confidence  of  both 
these  eminently  great  men,  and  was  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee on  Military  Affairs  during  the  war — a  position  nr- 
duous  and  of  great  responsibility. 

In  the  year  1809,-"   having  been  a  widower  for  some 

*    The  exact  date  of  Col.  Troup's  secon.l  nuu  the  8th  of  November,  1809. 

The  fact  was  thus  announced  in  the  Savannah  Republican,  of  26th  November,  1809: 


.  I.]  BIRTH,   PARENTAGE,  &c. 

years,  and  without  children,  he  married  Miss  Carter,  a  lady 
of  Virginia,  by  whom  he  had  six  children,  three  of  whom, 
two  daughters  and  a  son,  arrived  at  maturity.  The  eldest 
daughter  married  Thomas  Bryan,  Esq. ;  by  which  union 
there  were  born  to  Gov.  Troup  several  grand-children. 

I  find  that  I  have  already  gone  beyond  the  limit  of  your 
request,  to  wit,  my  recollection  of  Gov.  Troup's  early  life, 
the  characteristics  of  his  boyhood,  &c.,  &c.  I  trust  an 
exact  and  impartial  history  of  his  public  life,  services  and 
character,  may  soon  be  accessible  to  all. 

Truly,  your  friend  and  obedient  servant, 

W.  J.  McIxTosn. 

The  precise  year  of  Gov.  Troup's  graduation  at  Prince- 
ton, was  1797,  one  year  after  that  of  his  cotemporary,  Judge 
Berrien,  and  two  before  that  of  Mr.  Forsyth.  On  his  re- 
tnrn  to  Georgia,  he  entered  the  law  office  of  the  lion.  John 
Y.  Noel,  at  Savannah.  On  the  29th  day  of  May,  1800,  he 
was  admitted,  before  the  Superior  Court  of  Chatham  county, 
the  Bon.  Thomas  P.  Games  presiding,  to  plead  and  prac- 
tice, as  an  attorne}',  solicitor  and  proctor,  in  the  several 
courts  of  law  and  equity  in  the  State,  on  the  certificate  of 
Thomas  Gibbons,  Charles  Harris  and  William  B.  Bulloch, 
Esquires,  stating,  that,  "  after  due  examination,  we  conceive 
him  fully  entitled  to  admission,  and  recommend  him  ac- 
cordingly." It  does  not  appear  that  he  ever  practiced  law 
to  any  extent.  Even  had  his  taste  lain  in  that  direction, 
his  early  connection  with  political  and  public  life  would 
have  interfered  with  the  duties  and  calls  of  a  profession,  re- 
quiring, for  its  active  pursuit,  all  the  zeal  and  energy  of 
early  manhood  and  mature  life.  In  1800,  he  declined  an 
election  to  the  Legislature,  (at  the  call  of  the  Republican 

"Alexandria,  Nov.  11. 

"  J'arried,  on  tho  8th  instant,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Gibson,  Gieorgs  M.  Troup,  Ksq.,  menr.ber  cf 
the  House  of  Uepresentative  s  from  Georgia,  to  the  amiable  and  accomplished  Miss  Ann  Carter, 
daughter  of  the  late  George  Carter,  Esq." 

Besides  Florida,  (the  wife  of  Thomas  M.  Forman.  Esq.,)  who  died  several  years  before  her 
father,  Col.  Troup  left,  by  this  marriage,  two  other  children— Oralie,  who  is  yet  living,  and 
George  M.,  who  died  within  two  years  after  the  decease  of  his  father.  Mrs.  Troup  died  in 
May,  1S28,  many  years  before  the  Governor.— EP. 


12 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  I. 


party  of  Chatham  county,)  on  account  of  his  minority.     In 
1801,  he  consented  to  serve,  and  was  elected  a  Representa- 
tive ;  and  he  was  re-elected  to  the  same  post,  in  1802,  and 
again  in  1803.     The  General  Assembly  then  sat  at  Louis- 
ville ;  and  there,  on  the  30th   of  October,  1803,   he  was 
married  to  Miss  Ann  St.  Clare  McCormick,  eldest  daughter 
of  Dr.  James  McCormick,  then  late  of  that  place.     In  18«  M-, 
he  removed  to  the  county  of  Bryan,  and  settled  at  a  pi: 
near  Hardwicke,  now  known  as  Troup's  Old  Field.     At 
this  place,  he  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  his  wife,  on  30th 
September,   1804,   less  than   a  year  after  his  marri;'. 
The  exact  length  of  his  residence  in  Bryan  county  is  not 
known  ;  but  the  county  records  show,  that,  in  the  year  1 
he  was  placed,  by  the  Interior  Court,  on  the  list  <>i'  t 
owning  slaves  liable  to  do  road  duty,  and  that  he 
put  on  the  grand  jury  list;  though  the  minutes  of  the  Court 
do  not  show  that  he  was  drawn,  or  that  he  ever  server. 
a  juror.    It  was  probably  because  of  his  domestic  loss,  that 
he  returned  to  Savannah,  where  he  seems  to  have  been  re- 
siding at  his  election  to  Congress  in  180G. 

We  may  close  this  portion  of  the  narrative,  by  remark- 
ing, that  if,  as  a  boy,  his  manner  was  reserved  and  unob- 
trusive, so,  when  he  came  to  act  a  part  in  the  drama  of  life, 
he  seems  to  have  been  unconscious  of  possessing  those 
qualities  which  endeared  him  to  his  fellow-citizens,  and 
which  were  fitting  him  to  pass,  with  honor,  through  scenes 
as  trying  as  they  were  checkered. 

From  Pickett's  History  of  Alabama,  (vol.  2,  beginning 

*  Tho  circumstances  connected  with  the  doatliof  this  lady,  possess  :i 
and  may  not  be  out  of  place  here.    Colonel  Troup  had  prepared  himself  for  a  lift.1  of  a 
happiness,  and  hail  fitted  up  his  house  with  the  luxiu  . 

Troup  having  been  taken  suddenly  ill,  a  physician  was  Bought  in  vain.    A^  tlu>  only  i 
neighbor,  vrho  had  considerable  experience  in  blood-1 

seemed  to  warrant  the  belief  that  bleeding  would  relieve1  the   pnti-.-nt.    On  i. 
neighbor  proceeded  to  bind  up  the  arm,  and  was  about  to  ap 
My,  Col.  Troup  asked  :  "  W- — 8,  do  yon  think  you  i 

The  arm  was  immediately  unbound,  and  the  patient  •  •  that  the-  4- 

anxious  husband  conveyed  to  the  mind  of  the  propi 

tion  would  be  successfully  performed;  and,  to  use  the  language  of  the  latter,  K.I  ••  un:.. 
him  as  to  destroy  his  confidence  in  his  own  skill.    Inn-lath.  ;•>  the  writi ; . 

fifty  years  after  their  occurrence,  the  gentleman,  to  whom  reference  i.s  mad",  did  not 
entertain  any  doubt  that  venesection  would  have  relieved  the  patient. — ED. 


CHAP.  I.]  BIRTH,  PARENTAGE,  &c.  13 

at  page  198,)  published, in  1851,  we  make  the  following 
extract  : 

"  At  the  close  of  our  last  chapter,  it  was  stated  that  the 
first  American  Court  held  in  Alabama,  was  at  Mclntosh 
Bluff,  which  is  situated  upon  the  western  bank  of  the 
Tombigby,  between  its  confluence  with  the  Alabama  and 
the  town  of  St.  Stephen's.  Connected  with  this  Bluff,  there 
is,  to  us,  a  pleasing  historical  reminiscence.  Alabama  has 
the  honor  of  being  the  birth-place  of  George  M.  Troup, 
late  Governor  of  Georgia,  and  who  is  one  of  the  most  vigor- 
ous and  expressive  political  and  epistolary  writers  of  the 
age.  His  grandfather,  Captain  John  Mclntosh,  the  chief 
of  the  Mclntosh  clan,  was  long  attached  to  the  army  of 
West  Florida  ;  and  his  valuable  services  were  rewarded,  by 
the  King  of  England,  with  the  grant  of  Mclntosh  Bluff, 
and  extensive  tracts  of  land  upon  the  Mississippi.  He  had 
a  son,  who  was  also  a  British  officer,  and  a  daughter,  a  native 
of  Georgia.  The  latter,  while  on  a  visit  to  England, 
married  an  officer  of  the  royal  army,  named  Troup.  She 
sailed  from  England  to  Mobile,  and,  arriving  at  the  latter 
place,  entered  a  barge,  and  went  up  the  Tombigby  river  to 
the  residence  of  her  father,  at  Mclntosh  Bluff,  where,  in 
the  wilds  of  Alabama,  Governor  Troup  was  born,  in  Sep- 
tember, 1780." 

An  article  has  recently  appeared  in  a  Georgia  newspaper, 
from  which  the  following  is  extracted  : 

"  A  paper  was  published  in  Louisville,  Jefferson  county, 
prior  to  1800,  by  Ambrose  Day.  It  was  called  the  Louis- 
ville Gazette  &  Republican  Trumpet,  and  George  M.  Troup, 
at  that  time  a  lawyer  in  Savannah,  contributed  to  its  edito- 
rial columns,  although  not  generally  known  as  the  editor." 

Having  no  reason  to  question  the  correctness  of  the  above, 
in  other  respects,  it  is  yet  certain  that  Colonel  Troup  was 
not  admitted  to  the  Bar  until  1800. 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  II. 


CHAPTER   II. 

Early    Carter  a.<   a    Public    Man. 

THERE  is  every  reason  to  believe  that  the  subject  of  this 
memoir  would  have  become  eminent  in  the  higher  branches 
of  the  legal  profession,  had  he  devoted  his  manhood  to  the 
study  and  practice  of  law.  Such  was  the  opinion  of  his 
legal  preceptor,  a  gentleman  of  distinction  and  of  great 
acquirements  in  the  science,  and  who  was  well  qualified  to 
form  a  proper  judgment  of  the  mental  capacity  of  his 
student.  The  rigid  course  of  preparation  then  necc 
bring  a  young  man  forward  as  a  candidate  for  professional 
honors  and  emolument,  favored  the  development  « 
qualities  which  are  necessary  to  the  successful  practic 
a  science,  in  which,  although  many  accumulate  property, 
comparatively  few  acquire  a  solid  or  lasting  reputation. 
The  progress  of  this  history  will  tend  only  to  strengthen  the 
opinion  thus  formed  of  Gov.  Troup's  talents,  at  a  time  when 
the  future  statesman  contemplated  probably  little  more  than 
the  strifes  of  the  forum,  and  the  promotion  which,  especi- 
ally in  a  free  Government,  attends  the  career  of  the  diligent 
and  well-trained  lawyer.  His  retirement  from  the  bar,  at 
an  early  period  after  his  admission,  was  owing,  perhaps,  as 
much  to  want  of  taste  for  forensic  display,  as  to  the  times 
when  he  graduated  as  a  lawyer,  and  which  were  calculated 
to  draw  into  the  service  of  the  State  young  men  of  talents 
and  patriotism.  His  habits  were  always  retiring;  yet,  the 
probability  is,  that,  in  weighing  the  chances  of  usefulness 
to  the  public,  he  settled  down  into  a  conviction  that  he 
could  be  more  serviceable  in  political  life  ;  the  more  especi- 
ally, as  it  was  one  from  which,  without  injury  to  private 
interests,  he  could  at  any  moment  retire — as  he  always  did 
— whenever  no  public  emergency  seemed  to  render  his 
services  necessary.  That  he  deferred  much  to  the  j  udgment 


CHAP.  II.]  EARLY  CAREER  AS  A  PUBLIC  MAN.  16 

of  his  friends,  in  the  estimate  which  he  put  upon  his  ser- 
vices, is  true  ;  and  one  of  the  beauties  of  his  life  seems  to 
have  been,  that  his  patriotism  was  tempered  by  a  modesty, 
which,  whilst  it  was  ready  to  yield  to  the  suggestions  of 
friendship,  was  still  not  of  a  kind  to  betray  him  into  a  want 
of  proper  confidence  in  himself  when  the  occasion  demanded 
a  surrender  of  his  time  and  talents  to  the  public  good.  But, 
whether  from  taste  or  otherwise,  it  is  certain  he  did  not 
practice  long  enough  to  acquire  reputation  as  a  lawyer; 
and  there  is  rea  son  to  doubt  if  he  practiced  at  all.  It  is  not 
improbable  that  he  appeared  as  an  advocate,  on  the  criminal 
side  of  the  court ;  but  the  records  of  the  court,  where  he 
was  admitted,  do  not  show  that  he  brought  any  suits  there. 
The  year  1800  is  memorable  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
Federal  party  under  John  Adams,  and  the  election  of 
Thomas  Jefferson.  This  was  the  first  trial  of  strength  be- 
tween the  two  parties  which  openly  succeeded  the  retire- 
ment of  Washington  from  the  Presidency  ;  and  the  princi- 
ples of  which  turned  upon  the  different  modes  of  construing 
the  Federal  Constitution.  Those  who  favored  a  strong 
government,  voted  for  Mr.  Adams;  the  friends  of  a  strict 
construction  and  of  the  rights  of  the  States,  voted  for  and 
elected  Mr.  Jefferson.  We  have  seen  that  young  Troup 
was  a  Republican  at  the  school  on  Long  Island.  On  his 
return  to  Georgia,  he  lost  none  of  his  zeal  for  the  same  cause. 
It  was  upon  the  principles  of  that  party  he  planted  himself, 
as  soon  as  he  could  form  a  judgment  for  himself;  and  surely 
he  never  afterwards  gave  occasion  to  friend  or  foe  to  taunt 
him  with  abandonment  of  principle.  His  enemies  being 
judges,  he  never  advocated  the  principles  of  consolidation  ; 
and,  in  the  judgment  of  his  friends,  if  he  erred  at  all,  it 
was  on  the  side  of  the  rights  of  the  co-equal  and  sovereign 
States  of  the  Union. 

Bat,  independently  of  her  federal  relations,  Georgia  was 
in  a  peculiar  and  an  interesting  condition  at  home.  Only  a 
few  years  had  elapsed  since  the  honor  of  the  State  was 
tarnished  by  one  of  the  most  stupendous  frauds  recorded  in 
history.  This  is  known  as  the  YAZOO  fraud,  a  full  narrative 


lg  LIFE  OF  GEORGE   M.  TROUP.  [CRAP.  II. 

of  which  belongs  rather  to  the  documentary  history  of 
Georgia,  than  to  a  biography.  "We  have  seen  that  the  west- 
ern boundary  of  Georgia  extended  to  the  Mississippi  .River, 
and  embraced  the  larger  portion  of  the  present  State- 
Alabama  and  Mississippi.  A  small  river,  in  the  last  men- 
tioned State,  gave  the  name  to  a  transaction  which  brought 
deserved  infamy  upon  its  authors.  The  fraud  has  been  thus 
briefly  described  :  "  Several  projects  for  the  sale  of  large 
tracts  of  country  within  the  limits  of  ( •  dif- 

ferent periods,  presented  to  the  Legislature.  However 
contrary  to  good  policy,  they  were  listened  to.  JUit  it  is 
probable  the  majority  of  that  body  never  had  sagacity 
enough  to  foresee  the  rapidity  with  which  population  and 
wealth  would  increase,  giving  in  their  an  immense 

value  to  what  was  then  a  wilderness.      ! 
however,  we  find  them,  in  17s!1,  |  Watkins'  Dig* -4,  p.  .".S7.  | 
entering  into  a  contract  witli  these  companies  for  the  sale  of 
fifteen  or  twenty  millions  of  acres  of  land,  including  a 
tract  bordering  on  ti  i   Uiver.     IJut  a  dispute 

arose  about  the  payment  of  the  purchase  money  ;  and  the 
condition  upon  which  the  grants  were  t  not 

compliedwith.     During  the  session  of  ;in- General 

Assembly  passed  an  act  conveying  to  four  associations, 
called  the  Georgia,  the  Georgia  ppi,  the  U; 

Mississippi,  and  Tennessee  Companies,  al-  >0  of 

acres  of  land,  lying  between  the  rivers  Mississippi,  Tenne 
Coosa,  Alabama  and  Mobile.  The  bill  was  warmly  con- 
tested in  both  houses,  and  had  also  to  encounter  opposition 
from  the  Governor.  It  ultimately  passed,  however,  by  a 
majority  of  ten  in  the  House  of  Representatives  and  two 
in  the  Senate.  The  sale  of  so  large  a  territory  was  received 
by  the  people  with  an  almost  unanimous  burst  of  indigna- 
tion, for  it  was  soon  known  that  nearly  all  the  members 
who  voted  for  the  law,  had  been  either  directly  or  indi- 
rectly corrupted  by  the  purchasers."* 
The  succeeding  Legislature  passed  an  Act,  reciting, 

>    Tho   consideration  f.r  tlii  -,;1   ,i,,]|ar..     F,,r   ,tlo  Act 

itself,  see  Watkins'  Digost,  \>\>.  :<',"  (.>  .v;n KT>. 


CHAP.  II.]  EARLY   CAREER   AS  A  PUBLIC  MAJSr.  If 

amongst  other  things,  "  Whereas  the  last  Legislature  of 
this  State,  not  confining  itself  to  the  powers  with  which  that 
body  was  constitutionally  invested,  did  usurp  a  power  to 
pass  an  act,  on  the  seventh  day  of  January,  one  thousand 
seven  hundred  and  ninety-five,  entitled  '  An  act  supple- 
mentary to  an  act  for  appropriating  a  part  of  the  unlocated 
territory  of  this  State,  for  the  payment  of  the  late  State 
troops  and  for  other  purposes  therein  mentioned,  declaring 
the  right  of  this  State  to  the  unappropriated  territory  there- 
of, and  for  other  purposes ;'  by  which  an  enormous  tract 
of  unascertained  millions  of  acres  of  the  vacant  territory 
of  this  State,  was  attempted  to  be  disposed  of  to  a  few  in- 
dividuals in  fee  simple,  and  the  same  is  not  only  unfounded 
as  being  without  express  constitutional  authority,  but  is 
repugnant  to  that  authority  as  well  as  to  the  principles  and 
form  of  government  the  good  citizens  of  this  State  have 
chosen  for  their  rule,  which  is  democratical,  or  a  govern- 
ment founded  on  equality  of  rights ;  and  which  is  totally 
opposed  to  all  proprietary  grants  or  monopolies  in  favor  of 
a  few,  which  tend  to  build  up  that  destructive  aristocracy 
in  the  new,  which  is  tumbling  in  the  old,  world ;  and  which, 
if  permitted,  must  end  in  the  annihilation  of  democracy 
and  equal  rights,  those  rights  and  principles  of  government 
which  our  virtuous  forefathers  fought  for  and  established 
with  their  blood"  ;  and  the  Act  proceeded  to  declare  "  the 
said  usurped  act "  to  be  "  null  and  void,"  and  to  annul  all 
grants  thereunder,  and  further,  "  that  within  three  days 
after  the  passage  of  this  act,  the  different  branches  of  the 
Legislature  shall  assemble  together,  at  which  meeting  the 
officers  shall  attend  with  the  several  records,  documents 
and  deeds  in  the  Secretary's,  Surveyor-General's  and  other 
public  offices,  and  which  records  and  documents  shall  then 
and  there  be  expunged  from  the  face  and  indexes  of  the 
books  of  record  of  the  State,  and  the  enrolled  law  or  usurped 
act  shall  then  be  publicly  burnt,  in  order  that  no  trace  of 
so  unconstitutional,  vile  and  fraudulent  a  transaction,  other 
than  the  infamy  attached  to  it  by  this  law,  shall  remain  in 
the  public  offices  thereof,"  &c.,  &c. 
3 


18  LIFE  OF  GEORGE   M.  TROUP.  [CHAP,  II. 

Foremost  and  most  effective  in  his  opposition  to  this 
"usurped  act,"  was  Gen.  James  Jackson.  Being  then  a 
Senator  in  Congress,  he  resigned  his  place,  came  home, 
was  elected  to  the  Legislature,  and  aided  in  passing  the 
annulling  law.  The  following  account  of  the  burning  de- 
serves a  place  here  : 

"Having  determined  that  the  act  was  'usurped,'  it  was 
considered  rightful  that  the  records  and  documents  pertain- 
ing to  the  sale  should  forthwith  be  destroyed.  No  monu- 
ment of  its  wickedness  should  remain  in  the  public  offices,  to 
give  flattering  assurance  to  the  speculator  that  his  corrupt 
machinations  might  yet  be  gratified.  It  was  necessary  to 
show  to  the  universe,  by  decided  conduct,  that  Georgia 
loathed  the  corruption,  loathed  the  speculators,  loathed  the 
evidences  of  fraud,  and  would  never  abandon  her  ground  ! 
By  order  of  the  two  Houses,  a  tire  was  kindled  in  the  great 
square  in  front  of  the  State  House.  Thousands  of  happy 
and  elated  citi/ens,  who  proudly  conceived  that  their 
wrongs  were  redressed,  had  repaired  to  the  spot,  to  witness 
the  most  remarkable  spectacle  ever  presented  within  our 
limits.  They  were  convened  from  every  part  of  the  State; 
and  had,  from  the  commencement  of  the  session,  remained 
at  Louisville,  intensely  surveying  the  proceedings  of  each 
successive  day.  A  circle  was  formed  by  the  members, 
around  the  fire,  the  Governor  and  the  high  officers  of  the 
Departments  being  present.  John  Milton,  the  Secretary  of 
State,  and  the  Committee  of  Three  who  reported  the  mode 
of  destroying  the  testimonies  of  our  debasement,  Mr.  Sims, 
Mr.  Few  and  Gen.  Jackson,  produced  from  the  archives  the 
enrolled  bill  and  usurped  Act.  These  were  delivered  to 
the  President  of  the  Senate,  for  examination.  By  him  they 
were  passed  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House,  who  handed  them, 
after  inspection,  to  the  Clerk.  He  read  aloud  their  titles, 
and  gave  them  to  the  Messenger,  who,  committing  them  to 
the  flames,  cried  out  with  loud  and  decisive  voice, 

'  God  save  the  State,  and  long  preserve  her  Eights,  and 
may  every  attempt  to  injure  them  perish  as  these  wicked  and 
corrupt  Acts  now  do  !  '  "  * 

*  Savannah  Republican,  and  Georgia  Journal,  for  1825.— ED. 


CHAP.  II.]  EARLY  CAREER  AS  A  PUBLIC  MAX.  19 

"Whilst  these  things  were  passing  in  Georgia,  young  Troup 
was  quietly  pursuing  his  college  studies  at  Princeton.  But 
he  was  not  an  inattentive  observer  of  the  political  events 
in  his  State.  His  subsequent  course  in  the  Legislature 
showed  that  he  was  an  enemy  to  the  enemies  of  Georgia, 
and  that  the  Yazoo  fraud  touched  no  chord  of  sympathy  in 
his  bosom.  The  imperfect  history  of  the  times  does  not 
enable  us  to  state,  with  certainty,  more  than  that,  as  a 
member  of  the  Legislature  in  1801, 1802  and  1803,  he  ful- 
filled the  just'  expectations  of  his  friends,  giving  his  support 
to  such  measures  as  were  calculated  to  advance  the  interests 
of  the  State,  and  maintaining  those  republican  principles 
on  which  rests  the  liberty  of  the  country.  He  was  soon  to 
be  transferred  to  a  wider  if  not  a  more  useful  field  of  labor, 
where  we  shall  find  him,  as  ever,  the  enemy  of  fraud*  and 
the  champion  of  liberty,  justice  and  equality. 

In  1806,  Joseph  Bryan,  one  of  the  Representatives  from 
Georgia,  having  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress,  Col.  Troup 
consented  to  become  a  candidate  for  the  vacant  office, 
which  the  Governor  had  ordered  to  be  filled  by  an  elec- 
tion to  take  place  on  the  first  day  of  September.  The 
following  neat  and  just  tribute  was  published,  editorially, 
in  a  Savannah  paper  of  that  date : 

[From  "The  Southern  Patriot,"    September  1st,  1806.] 

This  day  an  election  takes  place  for  a  member  to  repre- 
sent this  State  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  for  the 
residue  of  Mr.  Bryan's  term.  Col.  G.  M.  Troup  is  among 
the  candidates,  a  gentleman  whose  republicanism,  integrity 
and  talents  entitle  him  to  claim  a  very  distinguished  place 
in  the  affections  of  the  people  of  this  county,  as  well  as  of 
his  fellow-citizens  at  large.  He  has  frequently  represented 
the  people  of  this  county  in  the  General  Assembly  of  this 
State,  and  in  that  capacity  has  discharged  his  duty  not  only 
to  the  perfect  approbation  of  his  constituents,  but  in  a  man- 
ner highly  honorable  to  his  own  firmness,  consistency  and 

*  A  succeeding  chapter  is  devoted  to  Col.  Troup's  course  in  Congress  on  the  Yazoo 
fraud,  and  his  speeches  on  that  subject. — ED. 


20 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  II- 


patriotism.  It  is  expected  that  his  old  friends  will  not  be 
backward  or  lukewarm  at  this  important  occasion,  but  that 
they  will  come  forward  with  their  usual  alacrity  and  zeal. 
Col.  Troup  has  never  in  a  single  instance  deviated  from  the 
persuasion  of  a  democratic  republican  ;  but  if  personal  and 
political  honesty,  combined  with  the  warmest  and  most 
enthusiastic  attachment  to  the  government  and  constitution 
of  his  country,  are  qualifications  which  all  virtuous  men 
wish  to  see  concentrated  in  the  character  of  a  representative 
of  the  people,  then  this  gentleman  is  entitled*  to  the  respect 
even  of  that  class  of  his  fellow-citizens  between  whom  and 
himself  there  may  be  some  shades  of  difference  in  political 
opinion. 

The  election  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Dr.  Dennis  Smelt; 
but,  at  the  general  election  held  just  five  weeks  after,  Oth 
October,  1806,  Col.  Troup  was  elected,  with  Dennis  Smelt, 
William  W.  Bibb  and  Unwell  Cobb,  a  "Representative  for 
the  full  term  to  commence  on  the  4th  of  March,  1807  ;  and 
he  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of  Representatives  at  Wash- 
ington, on  the  26th  day  of  October,  1807. 

The  rapidity  with  which  he  had  acquired  the  public 
confidence  and  risen  to  stations  of  honor  and  responsibility, 
whilst  it  did  not  inflate  his  pride,  seems  not  to  have  excited 
the  apprehension  of  his  friends.  If  there  were  no  other 
evidence  of  his  integrity  and  talents,  this  sudden  promotion 
to  important  stations,  as  soon  as  he  was  constitutionally 
eligible  to  them,  would  afford  strong  presumption  that  he 
possessed  both  qualifications  ;  but  the  proof  will  be  fur- 
nished when  we  come  to  consider  his  acts.  It  is  believed 
that  he  never  solicited  an  appointment  of  any  kind ;  and 
this  is  known  to  be  true  of  him  in  mature  life.  This  was  in 
the  earlier  if  not  the  better  days  of  the  republic.  How  far  such 
conduct  may  commend  itself  to  the  politicians  of  the  pr« 
day,  the  future  historian  of  the  country  must  determine. 

In  1824,*  he  said:  "Our  political  morality  will   never 
be  pure  as  long  as  offices  are  sought  with  the  avidity  and 

*  Sec  his  iininiiil  message,  an  Governor,  for  1824.— ED. 


CHAP.  II.]  EARLY  CAREER  AS  A  PUBLIC  MAN.  21 

importunity  which  now  distinguish  the  canvass  for  them  in 
all  the  States  with  the  exception  of  New  England.  When- 
ever it  is  believed  by  the  people  that  those  who  seek  office 
with  most  eagerness,  are  frequently  the  most  unworthy,  the 
evil  will  have  found  its  remedy.  Merit  is  always  con- 
spicuous enough,  and  our  people  will  be  sufficiently  enlight- 
ened to  discover  and  appreciate  it.  The  nomination, 
therefore,  as  well  as  the  election  of  the  candidate,  ought  to 
belong  to  them.  The  American  historian  will  blush  to 
record  the  scenes  in  which,  within  the  passing  year,  can- 
didates for  the  first  dignity  have  not  disdained  to  be  actors. 
A  practice,  ripened  into  custom  among  a  whole  people, 
though  proved  to  be  a  bad  one,  is  not  easily  changed  or 
discontinued.  It  is  known  that  this  must  be  the  work  of 
time,  and  of  the  intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  people 
themselves.  Whilst  I  am  disposed  to  respect  as  I  ought, 
long  established  habits  and  opinions,  1  would  reproach 
myself  were  I  to  withhold  a  single  sentiment,  the  expres- 
sion of  which  it  was  believed  the  interest  or  honor  of  the 
country  required." 

At  a  subsequent  period — one  important  in  the  history  of 
Georgia — and  when  there  was  danger  of  conflict  between 
Federal  and  State  authority,  he  used  this  remarkable  lan- 
guage, in  a  message  to  the  Legislature,  in  reference  to 
himself  :  "  If  it  be  possible,  which  I  do  not  permit  myself 
to  believe,  that  a  certain  person  filling  a  certain  station, 
stands  in  the  way  of  the  peace  and  harmony  which  ought 
ever  to  subsist  between  this  and  the  general  government, 
and  on  this  account  valuable  interests  are  endangered,  that 
person  will  retire  instantly,  and  with  much  more  pleasure 
than  he  ever  occupied  that  station." 

Knowing  the  sincerity  of  Gov.  Troup's  heart,  and  the 
frankness  of  his  character,  the  reader  may  well  believe  he 
spoke  truly  of  himselfj  when,  in  his  inaugural  address  of 
1825,  he  said,  "possessing  no  very  great  confidence  in  my 
own  qual ideations  for  the  public  service,  I  have  not  habitu- 
ally or  pertinaciously  sought  the  public  favor." 


22 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CnAr.  III. 


CHAPTER  III. 

State    of  the    Country. — Mr.     Troup   in   Congress. — His   Course 

There. 

THE  year  1807  was  an  eventful  one  in  the  history  of  the 
United  States.  The  two  great  belligerents  of  Europe, 
England  and  France,  were  contending  for  supremacy,  and 
what  the  latter  had  gained  on  land,  she  had  some  time 
before  lost  on  the  ocean.  England  was  the  acknowledged 
mistress  of  the  seas.  For  years  previously,  the  neutral 
commerce  of  the  United  States  had  suifered  by  the  desola- 
ting wars  of  Europe,  to  which  we  were  no  party.  A  detail 
of  the  consequences  of  this  state  of  things,  belongs  rather  to 
a  general  history  of  the  country,  but  they  will  be  noticed 
sufficiently,  in  the  progress  of  this  work,  to  give  a  general 
idea  of  the  irritating  causes  which  finally  led  to  the  Avar  of 
1812.  It  was  in  vain  that  the  United  States  insisted  upon 
their  rights,  as  a  neutral  power,  to  carry  on  trade  witli 
either  belligerent,  or  with  any  other  European  nation — 
contraband  of  war  only  excepted.  Negotiation  had  failed, 
and  was  likely  still  to  prove  fruitless.  As  a  last  resort,  Mr. 
Jefferson,  in  1807,  recommended  an  embargo.  This  was 
resisted  by  nearly  the  whole  power  of  the  Federal  party, 
whilst  the  Republicans  as  generally  supported  it.  In  his 
message  to  Congress,  of  18th  December,  the  President  said  : 
"  The  communications  now  made,  showing  the  great  and 
increasing  dangers  with  which  our  vessels,  our  seamen  and 
merchandise  are  threatened  on  the  high  seas  and  else- 
where, from  the  belligerent  powers  of  Europe,  and  it  1>> 
of  great  importance  to  keep  in  safety  these  essential  re- 
sources, I  deem  it  my  duty  to  recommend  the  subject  to 
Congress,  who  will  doubtless  perceive  all  the  advantages 
which  may  be  expected  from  an  inhibition  of  the  departure 
of  our  vessels  from  the  ports  of  the  United  States.  Their 


CHAP.  III.]  STATE  OF  THE  COUNTRY.  23 

wisdom  will  also  see  the  necessity  of  making  every  prepa- 
ration for  whatever  events  may  grow  out  of  the  present 
crisis." 

A  bill  was  accordingly  introduced,  the  same  day,  to  lay 
"an  embargo  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and 
harbors  of  the  United  States ;"  and  after  a  debate  of  four 
days,  and  sundry  amendments,  was  passed  in  the  House  by 
a  vote  of  eighty-two  to  forty-four — Col.  Troup  voting  in  the 
affirmative.  It  passed  the  Senate,  the  same  day,  with  the 
amendments,  and  was  immediately  approved  by  the  Presi- 
dent. It  provided,  amongst  other  things,  that  "an  embargo 
be,  and  is  hereby  laid  on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and 
places  within  the  limits  or  jurisdiction  of  the  United  States, 
cleared  or  not  cleared,  bound  to  any  foreign  port  or  place; 
and  that  no  clearance  be  famished  fb  any  ship  or  vessel 
bound  to  such  foreign  port  or  place,  except  vessels  under  the 
immediate  direction  of  the  President  of  the  United  States; 
and  that  the  President  be  authorized  to  give  such  instruc- 
tions to  the  officers  of  the  revenue,  and  of  the  navy  and 
revenue  cutters  of  the  United  States,  as  shall  appear  best 
adapted  for  carrying  the  same  into  full  effect :  Provided, 
that  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed  to  prevent 
the  departure  of  any  foreign  ship  or  vessel,  either  in  ballast 
or  with  the  goods,  wares  and  merchandise  on  board  of  such 
foreign  ship  or  vessel,  when  notified  of  this  act."  The 
second  section  enacted,  "  that  during  the  continuance  of 
this  act,  no  registered  or  sea-letter  vessel,  having  on  board 
goods,  wares  and  merchandise,  shall  be  allowed  to  depart 
from  one  port  of  the  United  States  to  any  other  within  the 
same,  unless  the  master,  owner,  consignee  or  factor  of  such 
vessel  shall  first  give  bond,  with  one  or  more  sureties,  to  the 
collector  of  the  district  from  which  she  is  bound  to  depart,  in 
a  sum  of  double  the  value  of  the  vessel  and  cargo,  that  the 
said  goods,  wares  or  merchandise  shall  be  relanded  in  some 
port  of  the  United  States,  dangers  of  the  seas  excepted, 
which  bond,  and  also  a  certificate  from  the  collector  where 
the  same  may  be  relanded,  shall  by  the  collector  respective- 
ly be  transmitted  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury.  All 


2£  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHJLP.  III. 

armed  vessels  possessing  public  commissions  from  any 
foreign  power,  are  not  to  be  considered  as  liable  to  the 
embargo  laid  by  this  act." 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a  system  of  commercial  re- 
strictions, intended,  not  so  much  as  measures  of  retaliation, 
as  an  inducement  to  the  two  great  belligerent  powers  of 
Europe  to  respect  the  rights  of  a  neutral  pursuing  her 
lawful  commerce  without  interference  in  the  quarrels  of 
the  world,  with  which  the  United  States  were  then  at  peace. 
The  blow  was  virtually  aimed  at  England,  which  the  Fed- 
eral party  were  supposed  to  favor  ;  whilst  they,  in  turn, 
accused  the  Republicans  of  too  great  partiality  for  France. 
That  some  measure  of  this  sort  was  necessary,  the  judg- 
ment of  the  country  has  since  proved  ;  but  it  revived,  at  the 
time,  all  the  bitterness  of  party  spirit  which  had  seemed  to 
become  dormant,  to  a  great  extent,  on  the  re-election  of 
Mr.  Jefferson  in  1804. 

But  another,  and,  for  the  time,  a  more  serious  occasion 
for  alarm,  grew  out  of  the  pretended  right  of  Gre.it  Britain 
to  search  American  vessels  for  British  subjects.  This 
doctrine  of  impressment  was  one  to  which  the  United  States 
could  never  give  their  sanction.  If  a  neutral  flag  could 
not  protect  neutral  property,  it  was  yet  in  the  power  of 
Congress,  by  a  system  of  embargo,  or  non-intercourse,  to 
make  it  the  interest  of  the  British  people  to  respect  il it- 
rights  of  neutrals;  but  the  doctrine  of  impressment  struck 
at  the  right  of  the  government  to  protect  itself  from  the 
violation  of  a  fundamental  principle  of  our  national  policy 
— the  right  of  every  citizen  or  subject  to  throw  oil'  his 
allegiance — in  opposition  to  the  English  theory — 6/< 
subject,  always  a  subject.  But  even  if  this  theory  were  right, 
its  application  must  be  attended  with  difficulty.  Who  is 
to  judge  whether  a  man  be  a  British-born  subject  or  a 
native  citizen  of  the  United  States  2  That  the  question 
under  consideration  led  practically  to  gross  oppression  in 
many  instances,  was  true.  But  injury  to  the  rights  of  in- 
dividuals was  not  the  only  consequence  of  the  attempt  to 
enforce  this  doctrine  of  impressment.  It  gave  occasion  for 


CHAP.  III.]  MEETING   OF  CONGRESS.  25 

an  act  of  atrocity  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  equaled 
only  by  the  acts  of  vandalism  committed  subsequently  by 
her  soldiery  at  the  capture  of  Washington  City.  We  refer 
to  the  affair  of  the  Chesapeake.  This  occurred  on  the  22d 
of  June.  On  the  30th  of  July,  the  President,  by  proclama- 
tion, required  Congress  to  assemble  on  the  26th  day  of 
October,  assigning  as  the  reason  that  "  great  and  weighty 
matters  claiming  the  consideration  of  the  Congress  of  the 
United  States,  form  an  extraordinary  occasion  for  convening 
them."  Congress  convened  accordingly.  The  Representa- 
tives from  Georgia,  as  before  stated,  were  William  W.  Bibb, 
Howell  Cobb,  Dennis  Smelt  and  George  M.  Troup.  In  his 
opening  message,  the  President  said :  "  Circumstances, 
fellow-citizens,  which  seriously  threatened  the  peace  of  our 
country,  have  made  it  a  duty  to  convene  you  at  an  earlier 
period  than  usual.  The  love  of  peace,  so  much  cherished 
in  the  bosoms  of  our  citizens,  which  has  so  long  guided  the 
proceedings  of  the  public  councils,  and  induced  forbearance 
under  so  many  wrongs,  may  not  insure  our  continuance  in 
the  quiet  pursuits  of  industry.  The  many  injuries  and 
depredations  committed  on  our  commerce  and  navigation 
upon  the  high  seas,  for  many  years  past ;  the  successive 
innovations  on  those  principles  of  pimlic  law  which  have 
been  established  by  the  reason  and  usage  of  nations  as  the 
rule  of  their  intercourse,  and  the  umpire  and  security  of 
their  rights  and  peace,  and  all  the  circumstances  which 
induced  the  extraordinary  mission  to  London,  are  already 
known  to  you.  The  instructions  given  to  our  ministers 
were  framed  in  the  sincerest  spirit  of  amity  and  moderation. 
They  accordingly  proceeded,  in  conformity  therewith,  to 
propose  arrangements  which  might  embrace  and  settle  all 
the  points  in  difference  between  us,  which  might  bring  us 
to  a  mutual  understanding  on  our  neutral  and  national 
rights,  and  provide  for  a  commercial  intercourse  on  condi- 
tions of  some  equality.  After  long  and  fruitless  endeavors 
to  effect  the  purposes  of  the  mission,  and  to  obtain  arrange- 
ments within  the  limits' of  their  instructions,  they  concluded 
to  sign  such  as  could  be  obtained,  and  to  send  them  for 
4 


26 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CnAr.  Ill- 


consideration,  candidly  declaring  to  the  other  negotiators, 
at  the  same  time,  that  they   were   acting  against  their  in- 
structions, and  that  their  government  therefore  could  not 
be  pledged  for  ratification.     Some  of  the  articles  proposed 
might  have  been  admitted  on  a  principle  of  compromise, 
but  others  were  too  highly  disadvantageous,  and  no  suffi- 
cient provision  was  made  against  the  principal  sources  of 
the  irritations  and  collisions  which  were  constantly   en- 
dangering the  peace  of  the  two  nations.     The  question, 
therefore,  whether  a  treaty  should  be  accepted  in  that  form, 
could  have  admitted  of  but  one  decision,  even  had  no  decla- 
rations of  the  other  party  impaired  our  confidence  in  it. 
Still  anxious  not  to  close  the  door  against  friendly  adjust- 
ment, new  modifications  were  framed,  and  further  conces- 
sions authorized  than   could  before  have   been  supposed 
necessary;  and  our  ministers  were  instructed  to  resume 
their  negotiations  on  these  grounds.     On  this  new  reference 
to  amicable  adjustment  we  were  reposing  in  confidence, 
when,  on  the  22d  day  of  June  last,  by  a  formal  order  from 
the  British  Admiral,  the  frigate  Chesapeake,  leaving  her 
port  for  distant  service,  was  attacked  by  one  of  those  vessels 
which  had  been  lying  in  our  harbors  under  the  indulgence 
of  hospitality,  was  ftsabled  from  proceeding,  had  several 
of  her  crew  killed,  and  four  taken  away.     On  this  outrage 
no  commentaries  are  necessary.     Its   character   has  been 
pronounced  by  the  indignant  voice  of  our  citizens,  with  an 
emphasis  and  unanimity  never  exceeded." 

The  war  spirit  had  been  fairly  aroused  ;  and  although  no 
solemn  declaration  of  war  or  other  open  acts  of  hostility 
were  made  for  about  five  years  afterwards,  yet  it  was  evi- 
dent that  war  was  inevitable,  except  by  the  sacrifice  of  the 
national  honor,  or  by  the  retreat  of  England  from  her  ex- 
travagant 'pretensions.  War  did  follow,  and  the  spirit 
which  animated  it  was  never  allayed  until  that  war  was 
terminated  in  "  a  blaze  of  glory  at  New  Orleans  !  " 

We  have  seen  that  the  embargo  received  the  support  of 
Col.  Troup.  On  the  20th  February,  1808,  a  bill  supple- 
mentary to  the  embargo  law  being  before  the  House,  he 


CHAP.  III.]  THE  EMBARGO.  27 

observed  that  he  had  always  thought  the  measure  of  the 
embargo  was  the  best  for  our  situation  that  could  be  de- 
vised, and  had  no  doubt  that  if  the  measure  had  been 
followed  up  by  a  pertinent  system  of  defence,  it  would  have 
produced  an  honorable  peace  even  by  this  time.  For  the 
same  reason  he  wished  the  embargo  to  be  rendered 
effectual. 

Nor  were  the  people  of  Georgia  unmindful  of  the  condi- 
tion of  affairs  which  were  transpiring,  or  of  the  measures 
that  it  would  be  proper  to  adopt  in  case  hostilities  should 
become  inevitable.  On  the  20th  of  December,  1808,  the 
Governor  approved  an  address  to  the  President,  which  had 
been  unanimously  agreed  to,  and  in  which  it  was  declared  : 
"  The  Legislature  of  the  State  of  Georgia,'  the  immediate 
organ  of  the  public  will,  think  proper,  at  this  all-important 
period  of  time,  to  address  you.  It  is  sensible,  sir,  that 
while  the  great  powers  of  Europe  are  involved  in  a  contest 
almost  unexampled  in  magnitude,  consequences  and  dura- 
tion, that  the  people  of  these  shores,  though  happily  situ- 
ated at  a  distance  from  the  scene  of  carnage,  yet  being 
largely  engaged  in  the  pursuit  of  commerce,  must  from 
necessity  suffer  great  privations  from  the  want  of  a  vent 
for  the  produce  of  a  country  fertile,  extensive,  and  inhabited 
almost  exclusively  by  agriculturists.  But,  sir,  the  citizens 
of  this  State,  strong  in  their  independence,  and  proud  of 
their  government,  feel  happy  that  a  measure  has  been 
adopted  which  they  conceive  to  be  at  once  pacific  and 
manly.  They  will  never  wish  to  see  the  lives  and  property 
of  their  brethren  exposed  to  the  insult  or  rapacity  of  a 
foreign  power.  And  should  this  measure  fail  to  produce 
the  desired  effect  immediately,  they  will  cheerfully  submit 
to  its  continuance;  if,  on  the  other  hand,  our  present  em- 
barrassments should  eventuate  in  a  war,  they  will,  in  proportion 
to  their  number  and  resources,  give  zealous  aid  to  the  govern- 
ment of  their  choice,  confident  that  from  the  judicious  man- 
agement of  the  public  funds,  and  the  .easy  pressure  of 
taxation  hitherto,  a  co'nflict  could  be  maintained  to  every 
advantage  which  pecuniary  means  would  bring  in  support 
of  a  people  patriotic^and  brave." 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Crur.  HI. 

Jo 

To  understand  the  peculiar  difficulties  which  embarrassed 
the  United  States  in  their  relations  to  the  European  world, 
and  which  crippled  their  commerce,  and  finally  led  to  the 
war  of  1812,  and  to  explain  what  follows  in  reference  to 
those  difficulties,  it  is  proper  to  subjoin  the  following  con- 
densed statement  of  the  policy  and  conduct  of  England  and 
France,  then  the  leading  powers  and  the  principal  belliger- 
ents of  Europe.  The  statement  is  believed  to  be  correct 
in  its  main  features : 

"  The  battle  of  Trafalgar  annihilated  the  united  fleets  of 
France  and  Spain ;  and  all  the  principal  ports  of  the  French 
empire,  with  a  long  extent  of  seacoast,  were  held  in  rigor- 
ous blockade  by  the  British  squadrons.  To  retaliate  on  the 
British,  the  Emperor  Napoleon  devised  a  new  plan  of 
attack,  which  he  called  the  Continental  System.  The  obj ect 
of  this  scheme  was  to  cut  off  all  intercourse  between  the 
continent  of  Europe  and  Great  Britain,  and  thus  weaken 
England  by  destroying  this  portion  of  her  commerce.  On 
the  21st  of  November,  1806,  Napoleon,  having  defeated 
the  Prussians,  and  entered  Berlin,  the  capital  of  that  king- 
dom, issued  from  the  royal  palace  of  that  city  his  celebrated 
Berlin  Decree*  :  by  which  lie  declared  the  British  isles  in 
a  state  of  blockade,  and,  consequently,  that  every  American 
or  other  neutral  vessel  going  to,  or  coming  from,  these  isles, 
was  subject  to  capture.  The  same  decree  provided  that 
all  merchandise  belonging  to  England,  or  coming  from  its 
manufactories,  or  colonies,  although  belonging  to  neutrals., 
should  be  lawful  prize  on  land.  This  provision  was  carried 
into  effect.  General  Armstrong,  American  minister  at 
Paris,  regarded  the  Berlin  decree,  at  first,  as  inapplicable 
to  American  commerce,  on  account  of  the  treaty  then  ex- 
isting between  the  United  States  and  France,  but  in  Octo- 
ber, 1807,  in  answer  to  his  inquiry  as  to  the  effect  of  the 
decree,  the  French  minister  of  foreign  relations  informed 
him  of  his  mistake.  The  condemnation  of  American  vessels- 
commenced  in  November  following.  The  British  govern- 
ment, in  retaliation  of  Napoleon's  Berlin  decree,  issued 

*    Dated,  "  In  our  Imperial  Camp,  Berlin,  Xov  .20, 1S06."— ED. 


CHAP.  HI.]  THE  EMBARGO.  29 

their  famous  Orders  in  Council,  dated  November  11, 1807. 
By  these  orders,  all  direct  trade  from  America  to  any  part 
of  Europe  at  war  with  Great  Britain,  or  which  excluded 
the  British  flag,  was  totally  prohibited.  Goods,  however, 
were  allowed  to  be  landed  in  England,  and,  after  paying 
duties,  might  be  re-exported  to  Europe.  On  the  17th  of 
December  succeeding,  the  orders  in  council  were  followed 
by  the  Milan  Decree  of  Napoleon,  which  declared  that 
every  vessel  that  should  submit  to  be  searched  by  a  British 
man-of-war,  or  which  should  touch  at  a  British  port,  or 
should  pay  any  impost  whatever  to  the  British  government, 
should  be  denationalized,  and  subject  to  seizure  and  con- 
demnation. These  edicts  of  the  two  belligerent  powers 
were,  of  course,  destructive  to  the  principal  part  of  the 
foreign  commerce  of  the  United  States.  American  vessels 
trading  directly  with  French  ports,  were  liable  to  capture 
by  British  cruisers  ;  and  if  they  touched  at  a  British  port, 
they  were  confiscated  on  arriving  in  France.  The  British 
orders  in  council  operated  with  the  most  severity  on 
American  commerce,  as  through  their  powerful  navy  the 
English  possessed  the  means  of  enforcing  them." 

The  session  of  1807-8  closed  on  25th  April,  1808. 

Early  in  the  session  of  1808-9,  a  resolution  was  offered, 
in  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives,  to  the  effect  that 
the  act  of  the  previous  session,  laying  an  embargo,  and 
the  supplementary  acts,  "  ought  to  be  immediately  re- 
pealed." On  the  question  whether  the  House  would  agree 
to  consider  the  resolution,  there  were  but  nine  votes  in  the 
negative — amongst  them  was  that  of  George  M.  Troup. 
In  explaining  his  vote,  he  said  he  felt  himself  bound  at  all 
times  to  treat  with  the  greatest  delicacy  all  motions  and 
propositions  of  an  ordinary  nature.  But  there  were  times 
in  which  his  feelings  compelled  him  to  depart  from  the  or- 
dinary rule.  This  was  one.  He  had  voted  against  the 
consideration  of  the  resolution  because  he  would  reject, 
with  that  dignity  which  it  deserved,  an  abstract  proposi- 
tion at  this  time  to  remove  the  embargo  ;  and  because  he 


30 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  III. 


thought  a  prompt  rejection  would  mark  to  the  foreign 
world  the  temper  of  the  country.  He  suggested,  since  it 
was  to  be  discussed,  that  the  discussion  should  be  postponed 
a  while,  until  time  was  given  to  digest  the  voluminous 
mass  of  documents  laid  before  them.  For  in  these  docu- 
ments were  contained  the  best  arguments  in  favor  of  the 
embargo. 

Soon  after  this,  the  House  Committee  on  Foreign  Rela- 
tions, having  made  a  report,  submitted  a  series  of  resolu- 
tions, one  of  which  was  as  follows :  "  Resolved,  That  the 
United  States  cannot,  without  a  sacrifice  of  their  rights, 
honor  and  independence,  submit  to  the  late  edicts  of  Great 
Britain  and  France." 

The  House  being  in  committee  of  the  whole, 
Mr.  Troup  said  he  was  extremely  happy  to  agree  in  one 
thing  with  the  gentleman  who  had  just  sat  down,  (Mr. 
Eandolph)  that  the  Southern  had  not  suffered  less  by  the 
operation  of  the  embargo  than  the  Eastern  States  ;  but 
when,  in  diifering  from  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts, 
(Mr.  Quincy,)  on  a  point  of  still  greater  importance,  he 
was  also  compelled  to  differ  from  the  honorable  gentleman 
from  Virginia,  he  did  so  with  the  deepest  regret.  It  has 
been  said  by  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  observed 
Mr.  T.,  that  for  the  last  eleven  months  the  country  has 
suffered  by  this  system  of  embargo  the  extreme  of  disgrace 
and  humiliation,  and  the  gentleman  from  Virginia  has 
called  it  a  measure  of  degrading  submission.  Sir,  it  is  not 
a  measure  of  submission  ;  it  ie  a  measure  of  resistance,  and 
of  the  most  formidable  resistance.  Whatever  may  have 
been  the  object  of  the  Executive  in  recommending  the 
embargo,  it  has  ever  been  supported  by  us  as  a  measure  of 
coercion — as  a  measure  of  justifiable  retaliation.  I  contend 
that  it  is  not  submission.  Acquiescence  in  the  orders  and 
decrees — submission  to  seizure  and  condemnation — would 
be  submission  to  all  intents  and  purposes ;  but  that  measure 
which  keeps  at  home  the  ships  and  property  which  our 
enemies  seek  to  capture  on  the  high  seas,  is  not  submission, 
but  resistance ;  and  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  will 


CHAP.  Ill]  SPEECH  ON"  THE  EMBARGO.  31 

find  it  so  to  his  sorrow.  Commerce,  sir,  is  the  life-blood  of 
England  ;  it  is  the  foundation  of  her  wealth,  her  prosperity 
and  her  maritime  grandeur.  But  the  gentleman  says  we 
have  retired  from  the  highway  of  nations,  and  left  our 
great  rival  free  to  navigate  it.  True,  we  have  retired  from 
the  ocean  ;  we  have  left  our  rival  free  to  navigate  but  very 
little  more  than  between  port  and  port  of  her  own  do- 
minions. We  have  given  the  finishing  stroke  to  her 
exclusion  from  the  commerce  of  the  civilized  world ;  she 
has  not  one  tittle  of  it  left,  other  than  what  you  yourselves 
would  have  if  your  embargo  were  raised  to-morrow  ;  and 
your  committee  have  told  you  what  that  is — a  scanty,  con- 
temptible commerce  of  seven  millions  of  dollars.  England 
lost  one  hundred  millions  when  France  shut  the  continent 
against  her  ;  she  lost  fifty  millions  by  the  occlusion  of  your 
own  ports ;  and  nothing  of  trade  is  left  her  but  that  she 
may  drive  with  the  native  powers  of  Asia  and  Africa ; 
with  Sweden,  and,  precariously,  with  Spain,  Portugal,  and 
their  possessions.  No  more,  then,  of  raising  the  embargo 
to  carry  on  commerce,  when,  without  a  sacrifice  of  inde- 
pendence— without  a  dishonorable  submission  to  the  Orders 
in  Council — we  cannot  carry  on  more  than  seven  millions 
of  commerce.  I  know  it  is  said  that  the  people  of  the 
Southern  States  are  the  enemies  of  foreign  trade — that 
their  spirit  and  their  interests  are  anti-commercial.  Sir, 
in  this  sentiment,  which  is  of  itself  without  foundation — 
nay,  without  even  the  shadow  of  foundation — is  to  be 
sought  that  jealousy  which  has  given  rise  to  so  many  evils, 
and  from  which  such  serious  evils  are  yet  to  be  appre- 
hended ;  but,  sir,  it  is  a  mean,  pitiful,  contemptible 
jealousy.  The  Southern  States  are  not  the  enemies  of 
commerce.  Indeed,  how  can  it  be  said  of  a  people  who 
raise  seventy  millions  of  pounds  of  cotton,  and  for  which 
they  have  not  a  home  market  for  ten  millions,  that  they 
are  the  enemies  of  commerce  !  No,  sir  ;  they  have,  from 
the  beginning  of  your  government  to  the  present  day, 
sacrificed  as  much  to  the  prosperity  of  commerce  as  any 
people  of  the  Union.  They  have  been  at  all  times  as  ready 


32 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  Ill- 


to  go  to  war  for  commerce — on  the  attack  on  the  Chesa- 
peake they  were  even  more  forward  to  go  to  war  for  the 
honor  and  dignity  of  the  flag  than  the  people  of  the 
Eastern  States. 

A  little  more  than  was  said  by  my  friend  from  Virginia, 
as  to  the  comparative  operation  of  the  embargo  on  the 
Eastern  and  Southern  States.  Compare  the  operation  of 
this  measure  by  the  proper  test— the  only  true  and  correct 
one — the  depreciation  of  the  respective  staples  of  those 
two  sections  of  the  Union.  Let  the  gentleman  from  Mas- 
sachusetts state  to  the  House  what  has  been  the  deprecia- 
tion of  his  beef,  pork,  fish,  cheese,  butter,  onions,  potatoes, 
and  cabbages,  and  I  will  tell  him  what  lias  been  the  de- 
preciation of  our  great  staples,  cotton  and  rice.  The 
ordinary  market  price  of  cotton  is  between  eighteen  and 
twenty-two  cents  ;  the  embargo  price  is  from  ten  to  twelve. 
The  ordinary  price  of  rice  is  from  five  to  six  dollars ;  the 
embargo  price  is  from  two  to  three.  Our  people  are, 
besides,  in  proportion  to  their  number,  more  in  debt  than 
the  people  of  the  Eastern  States. 

But  the  gentleman  from  Massachusetts  warns  us  against 
a  perseverance  in  the  system  of  embargo.  A  perseverance, 
according  to  the  gentleman,  is  to  be  followed  by  open 
hostility  to  the  laws.  Sir,  I  dread  no  such  hostility.  "We 
have  no  reason  to  dread  it.  It  is  altogether  impossible  that 
men  who  are  actuated  by  the  basest  of  human  passions 
can  make  a  serious  movement  in  a  revolution.  No,  sir  ;  I 
insist  upon  it,  that  we  have  no  cause  to  fear  the  anti- 
embargo  men  of  Massachusetts.  One  brave,  independent, 
generous  yeoman  of  Massachusetts,  would  drive  halt'  a 
dozen  such  fellows  into  the  ocean.  But,  the  truth  is,  the 
gentleman  seems  to  have  wholly  mistaken  the  condition  of 
his  countrymen.  He  told  us  that  he  had  suffered  every- 
thing but  famine  ;  that  the  distress  and  ruin  were  co-ex- 
tensive with  the  country.  They  could  not  or  would  not 
suffer  longer.  Yet,  sir,  the  gentleman  was  not  well  seated, 
before  his  colleague  (Mr.  Bacon)  rose,  and  with  equal  claim 
to  veracity,  and  the  same  opportunity  of  forming  a  correct 


CHAP.  III.]  SPEECH  ON  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS.  ££ 

opinion,  told  you  that  his  honorable  colleague  had  given  a 
very  high  coloring  to  the  picture  ;  that  the  distresses  of  the 
people  were  by  no  means  as  great  as  they  were  described  ; 
and  that  if  they  wefe  less  prosperous  and  flourishing  than 
before  the  embargo,  they  were  far — very  far — from  the 
state  of  misery  which  his  colleague  had  represented. 

Sir,  many  of  these  observations  have  been  made  with 
extreme  reluctance  ;  they  have  been  extorted  under  cir- 
cumstances which  must  give  pain  to  every  American,  but 
which  cannot  fail  to  kindle  in  him  the  liveliest  indignation. 
No  man  can  read  without  horror  and  disgust,  in  the  papers 
of  the  day,  the  most  treasonable  and  flagitious  libel  that 
ever  disgraced  our  country — the  anonymous  publication 
circulated  in  Newburyport. 

Sir,  it  is  remarkable  that  we  have  been  so  gradually 
familiarized  with  British  outrages,  and  have  at  length  be- 
come so  completely  reconciled  to  the  most  extravagant 
excesses  of  them,  that  what  two  years  ago  you  would  have 
been  willing  to  go  to  war  for,  would  now  be  considered  a 
matter  of  too  trifling  importance  to  merit  your  attention, 
much  less  your  resentment.  Two  years  ago  you  were 
willing  to  go  to  war  to  limit  the  right  of  search  ;  you  would 
have  gone  to  war  to  prohibit  the  practice  of  impressment ; 
you  would  have  gone  to  war  to  overturn  the  lawless  sys- 
tem of  blockade ;  you  would  have  gone  to  w.ar  for  the 
colonial  trade ;  for  the  attack  on  the  Chesapeake ;  two 
years  ago  you  would  have  gone  to  war  for  the  Orders  in 
Council ;  and  now  that  all  these  outrages,  and  more  than 
these,  have  accumulated  on  your  head,  until  you  are  bowed 
down  to  the  earth,  you  are  content  to  beg  a  little  commerce 
of  England !  You  tell  England,  if  she  will  be  pleased  to  grant 
you  a  little  trade,  you  will  open  your  porfs  to  her,  and  shut 
them  against  France !  This  last,  this  humiliating  overture, 
she  rejects  with  indignation.  You  have  no  choice  left,  as 
your  committee  has  reported,  but  between  war  and  embargo. 
We  cannot  go  to  war  with  one,  without  going  to  war  with 
the  other ;  because,  the  wrongs  done  by  one  are  not  less 
than  the  wrongs  done  by  the  other — unless,  indeed  you 
5 


3£  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  III. 

consider  the  shedding  of  innocent  blood  the  greatest  of  all 
possible  wrongs. 

I  know  this  measure  of  embargo  has  been  condemned, 
loudly  condemned  ;  but  only  by  men  who  propose  to  re- 
seat themselves  in  power  by  an  appeal  to  the  feelings  and 
interests  of  the  community.     In   one  part  of  the  country 
this  appeal  has  been  made  with  effect.    The  avaricious 
have  been  corrupted,  the  ignorant  have  been  duped.     In  all 
countries  there  are  the  avaricious  and  the  ignorant ;  and  the 
passion  of  the  one  and  the  credulity  of  the  other  have  been 
wielded  with  success  by  the  anti-embargo  men.     Sir,  the 
people  have  been  led  to  believe  that   a  great  com m « 
could  be  carried  on  under  the  orders  and  decrees,  when  in 
fact  no  commerce   could  be  carried  on  without  conn 
mitting  the  honor  of  the  nation.     They  have  been  led  t.. 
believe  that  a  commerce  could  be  carried  on  without,  haz- 
arding the  peace  of  the  country,  when  in  fact  no  commerce 
could  be  carried  on  without  involving  the  country  in  war  : 
and  whilst  the  great  object  of  the  government  was  to  pro- 
tect commerce,  the  embargo  was  said  to  aim  a  deadly  -blow 
at  commerce.     It  is  by  such  misrepresentations  that  the 
noisy   enemies  of  the   embargo  out  of  doors   have  been 
deluded  and  corrupted.     And  are  these  the  people  to  whom 
we  are  called  on  to  turn  a  respectful  and  deferential  ear  ? 
— the  merest  Shylocks — men  who  cry  out,  away  with  your 
honor,  your  independence,  your  neutrality — they  are  all 
stuff — give  us  gold  ! — British   merchants,  British   agi 
and  malcontent  Americans — the  depraved  of  the  cities,  and 
the  ignorant  of  the  country — men  who  are  ready  to  sacri- 
fice the  honor  and  independence  of  the  nation  for  a  little 
trade  in  codfish  and  potash  !     If  we  are  thus  degenerate — 
if  we  are  thus  fallen  in  thirty  short  years,  it  is  high  time 
to  abandon  your  republican  system  of  government.     Sir, 
will  posterity  believe  that  this  very  people,  who  thirty 
years  ago  magnanimously  offered  up  their  lives  and  for- 
tunes for  the  acquisition  of  independence,  are  now  prepared 
to  sacrifice  that  very  independence  to  their  avarice  !     Will 
posterity  believe  that  this  same  people,  in  one  short  year, 


CHAP,  in.]  SPEECH  ON  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS.  35 

forgot  the  affair  of  the  Chesapeake?  That  they  were  ready 
to  shake  hands  with  the  murderers  and  robbers  of  their 
countrymen  ?  I  will  not,  for  myself,  assent  to  such  a  base 
barter  of  honor  for  gold.  ISTo,  sir  !  If  it  has  come  to  this 
— if  we  cannot  for  a  year  or  two  years  endure  the  priva- 
tions incident  to  a  measure  of  embargo,  if  we  cannot  exist 
without  the  luxuries  of  life,  notwithstanding  the  most  im- 
perious calls  of  honor  and  of  duty,  we  are  unworthy  the 
blessings  we  enjoy — we  have  lost  our  virtue,  and  are  ripe 
for  the  dynasty  of  the  Bonapartes,  or  any  other  dynasty  ; 
and  whether  you  are  conquered  by  France  into  miserable 
servitude  to-morrow,  or  corrupted  to  sell  your  country  to 
England,  is  not  worth  a  reflection.  This  accursed  avarice 
will  ruin  you. 

Sir,  it  is  not  to  such  a  people  as  those — and  I  trust  in 
God  a  majority  of  the  people  of  New  England  are  very 
different — that  I  would  appeal  to  test  the  correctness  of  the 
measure  of  embargo.  "Were  I  disposed  to  test  its  correct- 
ness by  its  popularity,  I  would  appeal  to  the  people  of 
Virginia,  too  honorable  to  be  corrupted,  too  enlightened  to 
be  duped.  I  would  ask  them  what  they  thought  of  the 
embargo,  and  they  would  answer  with  an  almost  unani- 
mous voice — they  would  go  further — they  would  be  ready 
to  support  it  with  their  lives  and  fortunes. 

You  have  done  everything  for  commerce — you  have  ne- 
gotiated for  commerce — you  have  jeoparded  the  peace  of 
the  country  for  commerce — you  have  passed  an  embargo 
to  protect  commerce — and  commerce  is  the  first  to  abandon 
you.  God  forbid  that  I  should  speak  thus  of  the  whole 
mercantile  community.  I  have  seen  too  many  instances  on 
this  floor  of  noble  and  magnanimous  sacrifice  of  private 
interest  to  the  public  weal ;  they  are  not  the  Smiths,  or  the 
Grays,  or  the  Crowninshields  of  whom  I  speak. 

If  the  embargo  were  raised  to-morrow,  none  would  trade 
but  men  of  desperate  character  and  bankrupt  fortune — the 
real  bonafide  American  merchant  would  not  venture  a  ship 
at  sea  ;  and  where  would  they  trade  ?  Why,  to  be  sure, 
they  might  drive  a  trade  in  beef  and  pork  and  flour  to  the 


36  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  III. 

West  Indies,  and  some  of  our  cotton  and  rice  and  tobacco 
would  find  their  way  to  England,  if  the  French  privateers 
did  not  catch  them  ;  but  the  market  would  soon  be  overrun 
—it  would  be  no  better  than  the  home  market;  and  where 
would  you  trade  to  besides  ?  If  you  are  determined  to  pay 
the  ninepence  per  pound  tribute,  for  permission  to  re- 
export your  cotton  to  the  continent,  the  French  decrees 
would  take  it;  and,  if  they  did  not,  the  price  of  the  article 
would  be  so  enhanced  by  the  tribute,  that  the  market  of 
the  continent  would  be  lost  to  you. 

Permission  to  arm  is  tantamount  to  a  declaration  of  war, 
and  the  people  of  this  country  want  peace,  as  long  as  they 
can  preserve  it  with  honor.  And  do  you  think,  sir,  we  are 
ready  to  plunge  headlong  into  a  ruinous  war,  naked  and 
unarmed,  to  gratify  a  few  bankrupt  commercial  specula- 
tors? It  is  easy  to  declare  war ;  it  is  more  difficult,  under 
present  circumstances,  to  maintain  peace,  and  it  is  most 
difficult  of  all  to  wage  a  successful  war.  Sir,  beware!  It 
is  the  object  of  the  gentleman  from  MaaMchnaettl  and  his 
friends,  to  lead  you,  step  by  step,  into  a  war,  and  if  he  can, 
into  an  unpopular  war,  which  the  moment  you  cease  to 
conduct  with  effect,  you  are  ruined,  and  he  and  his  friends 
are  exalted.  To  such  an  event,  deplorable  as  it  would 
I  could  be  reconciled  if  I  believed  the  gentleman  and  his 
friends  would  govern  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  constitution  ; 
but  liberty  has  been  hunted  down  in  the  Old  World — there 
is  scarce  a  remnant  of  it  left,  save  in  America — here  it 
is  sustained  by  the  ruling  party  ;  and,  sir,  the  moment  this 
party  ceases  to  rule,  Republicanism  is  gone,  and  with  it  the 
hopes  of  all  good  men  forever.  On  this  account  I  depre- 
cate such  an  event. 

It  would  appear  to  me  from  the  tenor  of  the  gentleman's 
remarks,  (Mr.  Quincy.)  that  he  wants  war  with  France 
and  alliance  with  England.  If  this  be  the  fact,  the  gen- 
tleman is  not  consistent.  If  he  is  really  as  much  afraid  of 
the  gigantic  power  of  France  as  he  affects  to  be,  (and  I 
must  confess,  for  my  part,  I  am  very  much  afraid  of  it,) 
assuredly  it  is  not  policy  to  provoke  France — it  is  our  policy 


CHAP.  III.]  SPEECH  ON  FOREIGN  AFFAIRS.  37 

to  keep  out  of  the  way  of  both  monsters  as  long  as  we  can, 
and  to  husband  our  resources.  And  what  would  avail  an 
alliance  with  England?  You  could  only  furnish  men  to  be 
slaughtered  on  the  continent.  I  can  tell  the  gentleman 
from  Massachusetts  in  what  he  would  much  better  exem- 
plify both  his  patriotism  and  consistency — in  union,  in 
uniting  to  call  into  activity  the  resources  of  the  nation  for 
its  defence — in  organizing  and  arming  and  disciplining ; 
and,  what  is  not  less  desirable,  in  adopting  a  system  of 
finance,  which  would  not  fail  you  in  any  exigency  ;  in  short, 
in  pursuing  the  course  in  which  you  are,  which  the  soundest 
policy  points  to  as  the  safest  and  the  best,  the  course  of 
impartial  neutrality,  if,  indeed,  neutrality  has  anything  to 
do  with  it. 

As  to  the  embargo,  so  much  has  been  said,  both  in  and 
out  of  doors,  in  its  justification,  that  I  will  forbear  to  touch 
it.  It  is  only  necessary  to  observe  that  it  has  been  sup- 
ported, and  will  be  continued,  as  a  measure  of  security  and 
of  j  ust  retaliation.  As  a  measure  of  security,  it  keeps  the 
property  at  home,  which,  but  for  it,  would  have  enriched 
your  enemies  ;  as  a  measure  of  retaliation,  it  would  have 
had  its  effect,  but  for  the  anti-embargo  men  of  Massachu- 
setts. If  the  gentleman  will  co-operate  to  make  it  efficient, 
he  will  soon  find  the  great  mercantile  politicians  of  Eng- 
land, from  Anderson  down  to  McCall  Bedford,  have  not 
been  mistaken  in  the  belief  that  this  country  can  vitally 
affect  the  colonial  and  manufacturing  interests  of  that,  by 
an  embargo  system. 

As  to  a  declaration  of  war  against  France  and  Great 
Britain,  and  the  policy  of  making  it  immediately,  no  local 
considerations  should  be  permitted  to  enter  into  our  view 
of  it ;  but  this  much  is  to  be  said,  that  the  Southern  people 
are  much  more  interested  in  raising  the  embargo  than 
going  to  war ;  by  the  first,  they  would  find  a  vent  for  a 
small  proportion  of  their  staples ;  by  the  latter,  they  could 
get  nothing  but  taxes  and  fighting.  The  anti-embargo 
men  of  Massachusetts  would  not  make  more  by  the  first 
than  ourselves,  and  by  the  last  they  would  make  nothing 


38  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  III. 

more  than  their  privateers  would  make  for  them  ;  but  the 
great  object  is  to  postpone  the  evil. 

One  word,  before  I  sit  down,  as  to  what  fell  from  the 
gentleman  from  New  York.  He  proposes  to  repeal  the 
embargo  in  relation  to  Spain  and  Portugal.  Sir,  is  the 
political  condition  of  those  States  characterized  by  a  per- 
manency and  stability  which  would  warrant  commercial 
connection  with  them  ?  Trade  with  the  Junta  of  Seville — 
a  mere  political  ephemeron — a  being  of  a  day  !  Sir,  I  wish 
the  Spanish  patriots  success,  with  all  my  heart,  but  success 
is  impossible.  Ten  thousand  to  one,  that  whilst  I  am 
speaking,  this  same  Junta  of  Seville  is  imploring  clemency 
at  the  footstool  of  the  great  usurper.  Indeed,  sir,  if  wo  are 
bound  to  consider  this  people  of  any  definite  description, 
we  are  to  consider  them  rather  as  French  subjects  than 
Spanish  patriots,  for  the  onhr  official  paper  in  relation  to 
them  is  the  instrument  of  abdication  and  renunciation  by 
which  this  unhappy  people  have  been  transferred  over,  like 
a  flock  of  sheep,  to  the  Emperor  Napoleon,  and  by  the 
very  men  for  whose  rights  of  empire  they  are  said  to  be 
contending. 

The  question  was  taken,  the  next  day,  on  the  resolution 
under  consideration,  and  it  was  passed  without  a  division  ; 
but  it  is  evident  that  the  debate  did  not  turn  upon  the  res<  >1  u- 
tion  simply,  and  that  the  vote  determined  nothing  in  regard 
to  the  relative  strength  of  the  two  parties — one,  the  Repub- 
lican, ready  to  support  the  administration  in  all  just 
measures  to  vindicate  the  honor  of  the  country  ;  the  other, 
the  Federal,  bound  by  no  sympathy  for  the  party  in  power, 
or  its  leader,  Mr.  Jefferson,  and  ready  at  any  moment  to 
seize  a  favorable  opportunity  for  bringing  the  administra- 
tion and  its  friends  into  odium  with  the  people. 

^  The  following  letter,  never  before  published,  from  Col. 
Troup  to  Charles  Harris,  Esq.,  will  show  the  views  «>f  the 
former  on  our  foreign  relations,  even  before  the  meeting 
of  Congress  in  1807  : 


CHAP.  III.]         VIEWS  ON  OUR  FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  £9 

WASHINGTON,  14th  Oct.,  180T. 

•Dear  Harris  :  This  morning  I  paid  a  visit  to  the  Presi- 
dent. As  we  were  alone,  he  was  communicative.  The 
substance  of  what  passed,  so  far  as  I  am  at  liberty,  I  give 
you. 

Nothing  decisive  of  the  question  of  peace  or  war  can 
transpire  previously  to  the  return  of  the  Revenge.  She  is 
not  expected  short  of  a  month,  as  even  her  arrival  in  Eng- 
land is  not  known  to  the  government.  England  flatters 
our  ministers,  and  they  speak  of  her  favorable  disposition. 
She  disavows  absolutely  any  authority  to  Berkeley,  and 
talks  of  atonement.  But,  my  friend,  the  chances  of  war, 
notwithstanding,  are  beyond  all  comparison  greater  than 
those  of  peace.  Our  Spanish  negotiation,  which,  during 
the  absence  of  the  Emperor,  was  suspended,  is  actively  re- 
newed, and  before  the  end  of  the  session  the  government 
has  reason  to  look  to  a  satisfactory  issue.  Heretofore, 
Spain  has  made  no  advances.  I  may  conjecture  that 
Bonaparte  will  speak  for  us  in  an  audible  and  imperative 
tone.* 

I  give  you  nothing,  perhaps,  that  you  have  not  antici- 
pated ;  but  as  it  is  stated  on  authority,  it  will  afford  you 
more  solid  foundation  for  your  political  lucubrations.  This 
horrid  scrawl  is  intended  for  Charlton,  the  BulloChs  and 
Morel,  as  well  as  yourself,  when  you  get  together  over 
some  brandy  and  water.  Have  been  sick,  and  can't  write 
you  all. 

Your  friend  sincerely, 

Geo.  M.  Troup. 

*  The  President  has  nothing  to  do  with  this  last  sentence 
— remember ! 

To  Gen.  D.  B.  Mitchell,  he  wrote  during  the  session,  on 
the  same  subject,  as  follows  : . 

WASHINGTON,  18th  Feb'ry,  1808. 
Dear  Sir : 

The  House  is  this  morning  occupied  in  providing  for  the 
raising  of  several  regiments  (9)  on  a  war  establishment. 


4$  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTJP.  [CHAP.  III. 

Mr.  Kose's  negotiation,  it  is  understood,  is  brought  to  a 
close,  at  least  for  the  present,  and  the  Congress  will  in 
future  be  engaged  as  if  war  is  inevitable.  We  have  a 
French  decree  declaring  England  blockaded  by  sea  and 
land.  Whether  it  be  genuine  or  forged  is  not  certain. 
Very  respectfully,  dear  sir,  your  friend, 

Geo.  M.  Troup. 

WASHINGTON,  2Sth  March,  1808. 

Dear  Sir :  Your  favor,  of  the  13th  inst.,  came  to  hand 
last  night.  The  tenor  of  the  King's  speech,  which  reached 
us  at  the  moment  of  the  rupture  of  Hose's  negotiation, 
gave  rise  to  but  one  opinion  among  the  friends  of  our 
country — that  war  was  inevitable.  The  only  question 
seemed  to  be  how  we  should  wage  it.  I  make  no  doubt  in 
such  event  the  defensive  mode  would  be  adopted  in  the 
first  instance — prohibiting  intercourse,  preparing  ourselves 
for  attack,  and  organizing  a  force  for  the  reduction  of  the 
British  Provinces  on  the  first  offensive  act  of  the  enemy. 

Three  days  since,  dispatches  were  received  from  Mr. 
Pinkney,  stating  that  the  ministry  had  lowered  their  tone; 
and  indeed,  my  friend,  I  sincerely  believe  if  we  have  cour- 
age and  perseverance,  the  bully  will  retreat  from  his  high 
gmund»  and  give  us  by  honorable  treaty  what  the  law  of 
nations  has  decreed.  And  yet  should  such  concessions  set- 
tle us  down  in  a  permanent  peace  with  that  country,  it  is 
very  questionable  whether  France  would  not  take  umbrage. 
The  conduct  of  the  Emperor  of  late  is  calculated  at  least  to 
put  us  on  our  guard.  It  is  knoicn  he  is  spoiled  by  fortune, 
that  he  is  overbearing,  and  perhaps  that  he  aims  at  universal 
empire.  Be  it  so  or  otherwise,  it  becomes  this  government 
to  act  as  an  independent  nation,  uncontrolled  by  anything 
but  a  sense  of  justice  and  moderation.  Could  you  see  the 
whole  ground,  you  would  think  the  crisis  as  difficult  as  that 
of  '77.  Indeed,  to  think  so  you  will  require  little  more 
than  the  documents  the  publication  of  which  is  permitted. 

The  fate  of  the  Bill  authorizing  a  sale  of  arms  to  the 
State,  is  at  least  doubtful,  and  it  is  to  be  feared  that  if 


CHAP.  III.]  SPEECH  ON  THE   ARMY  BILL.  41 

passed  it  will  be  under  such  modification  as  to  render  it  of 
little  importance  to  Georgia.  (We  may  get  5,000  stand.) 
We  were  obliged  in  the  House  to  go  upon  the  beggarly 
system,  which  I  did  not  like,  and  which  of  course  gave  a 
fine  field  to  the  Yazoo  men  and  the  rest.  The  Army  bill  is 
passed  to  its  third  reading.  Congress  has  been  occupied  a 
week  in  reading  the  documents  accompanying  the  Presi- 
dent's communication.  We  may  adjourn  in  three  weeks. 

Tour  friend,  respectfully,  GEO.  M.  TROUP. 

Gen.  D.  B.  Mitchell,  Savannah. 

The  Army  bill,  to  which  reference  is  above  made,  being 
under  consideration,  4th  April,  1808, 

Mr.  Troup  said,  that  after  the  very  elocpent  and  patriotic 
speech  of  his  friend  from  Virginia,  (Mr.  Randolph,)  he  felt 
it  doubly  incumbent  on  him  to  justify  the  vote  he  should 
give,  by  a  few  observations.  I  really  cannot,  said  he,  for 
my  part,  perceive,  with  the  gentleman  from  Virginia,  that 
a  bright  prospect  of  peace  has  suddenly  opened  upon  this 
country.  My  views  of  things  at  this  moment  are  very 
different ;  it  really  seems  to  me  that  the  clouds  are  gather- 
ing about  us  darker  and  thicker  every  day.  It  must  be, 
from  the  nature  of  things,  extremely  difficult  to  determine 
whether  we  shall  have  peace  or  war,  because  that  event,  I 
trust,  depends  on  powers  not  to  be  controlled  by  us.  But, 
however  difficult  it  be  to  determine  it,  what  security  have 
we  that  we  shall  not  be  attacked  ?  Are  we  certain  that  an 
act  of  hostility  against  this  country  will  ever  be  preceded 
by  a  solemn  and  formal  declaration  of  war  (  Xo,  sir,  all 
experience  is  against  it.  The  Spanish  frigates  were  at- 
tacked, and  there  was  no  declaration  of  war — nay,  they 
were  attacked  in  the  midst  of  negotiation  for  peace,  or 
rather  in  the  midst  of  friendly  negotiation ;  Copenhagen 
was  attacked  and  in  flames,  and  there  was  no  declaration 
of  war.*  Recollect,  when  your  measure  of  embargo  begins 
to  press  hard  upon  the  British  colonies ;  when  from  that 

*  The  reader  will  understand  these  references  to  be  to  the  capture  of  Spanish  Treasure 
Ships  by  the  British,  in  1804,  and  the  bombardment  and  burning  of  Copenhagen,  by  the 
same  power,  in  1807. — ED. 

6 


42  LIFK  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  I  CHAP.  III. 

salutary  measure  the  colonies  are  reduced  to  the  last  ex- 
treme of  wretchedness  and  want,  the  tigress  will  attack 
you  for  food  for  her  young ;  it  is  not  unlikely  that  she  may 
steal  upon  you  in  the  dead  of  night,  and  treat  you  as  at 
Paoli.  And  pray,  sir,  what  security  have  you  against  that 
Power  which  a  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  (Mr.  ]).  11. 
Williams,)  so  appropriately  called  the  tiger?  What  secu- 
rity have  you  against  France  \  Do  you  expect  to  sleep  in 
profound  tranquillity  because  Britain  interposes  between 
you  and  France  her  thousand  ships  (  It  would  be  idle 
and  irrational  to  expect  it,  You  had  an  instance,  tin- 
other  day,  of  the  Rochefort  squadron  making  its  way  in  the 
face  of  the  whole  British  navy,  and,  it  is  said,  with  live 
thousand  troops  on  board,  who  might,  for  aught  you  could 
have  done,  be  drawn  up  on  your  frontier. 

But  what  is  to  be  done  in  the  present  rri.-is  of  affairs? 
Is  the  nation  to  remain  undefended  merely  because  gentle- 
men entertain  prejudices  against  a  particular  sj>eci< 
defence?  On  what  physical  force  will  you  rely  for  de 
fence?  You  can  only  rhoo-e  between  the  militia  and  a 
standing  army  ;  and  when,  the  other  day,  it  was  proposed, 
by  an  honorable  gentleman  from  Virginia,  to  class  and 
re-organize  the  militia,  you  refused  to  do  so.  And  it  i- 
well  known  that  the  present  defective  system  of  militia,  in 
our  quarter  of  the  country  at  least,  is  good  for  nothing. 
]STo  man  has  more  confidence  in  the  militia  than  myself;  I 
consider  them  the  great  and  cheap  defence  of  the  nation  ; 
but  you  must  class,  arm  and  equip  them,  and,  when  they  are 
so  armed,  classed  and  equipped,  purge  this  country  of  that 
refuse  of  humanity,  a  British  faction  and  a  French  faction 
— if,  indeed,  there  be  any  such — and  your  militia  will  de- 
fend you  against  the  world. 

The  jealousy  of  standing  armies  is  characteristic  of  our 
people ;  it  results  essentially  from  their  habits  and  political 
institutions;  but  this  jealousy  existing  only  in  times  of 
peace,  is,  in  a  season  of  public  danger,  always  succeeded 
by  that  policy  which  reposes  the  safety  of  the  nation  in 
discipline,  in  habits  of  obedience,  and  in  concert  of  opera- 


CHAP.  III.]  SPEECH  ON  THE  ARMY  BILL.  43 

tion.  !N"o  man  ever,  complained  of  a  standing  army  when 
his  country  was  invaded.  Xo  man  complained  of  a  stand- 
ing army  during  the  Revolution,  though  many  complained, 
and  causelessly  complained,  of  the  militia.  The  truth  is, 
that  the  evil  of  standing  armies  is  always  effectually  guarded 
when  the  regular  force  bears  a  very  small  proportion  to  the 
armed  militia.  By  adopting  such  policy,  by  so  proportion- 
ing your  regular  force  to  your  militia,  you  will  have  no- 
thing to  do  but  to  command  it  to  lay  down  its  arms,  and 
it  is  done. 

Circumstances  render  it  necessary,  at  this  moment,  to 
create  a  war  establishment,  not  so  much  for  the  purpose  of 
defence  against  invasion,  an  event,  perhaps,  not  so  seriously 
to  be  apprehended,  as  was  well  observed  by  my  friend 
from  Virginia,  but  to  preserve  peace  by  preparing  for  war. 
It  is  at  this  time,  and  under  such  circumstances  as  the  pres- 
ent, the  maxim  applies,  to  preserve  peace  or  avert  war,  you 
must  prepare  for  war. 

As  to  confidence  in  men,  under  whom  the  force  is  to  be 
wielded,  and  of  which  so  much  has  been  said,  I  will  only 
observe,  that  I  either  have  very  great  confidence  or  no  con- 
fidence at  all,  and  a  sufficiency  of  it,  on  the  present  occasion, 
to  believe  that  it  will  be  neither  misdirected  nor  abused ; 
and  I  repose  this  confidence  the  more  readily,  as  I  am  aware 
the  army  will  be  disbanded  with  the  same  facility  it  has 
been  created,  when  the  occasion  for  it  ceases. 

Although  somewhat  out  of  its  chronological  order,  we 
have  here  inserted  this  speech  entire,  as  it  exhibits  the 
foresight  of  its  author,  and  is  a  just  compliment  to  his 
sagacity  and  his  patriotism.  Three  days  afterwards,  the 
bill  passed  the  House  by  a  large  majority ;  and,  having 
passed  the  Senate  with  the  House  amendments,  was  signed 
by  the  President  on  12th  April,  ls(K 

On  the  9th  of  January,  1809,  the  Senate  amendments  to 
the  bill  from  the  House  for  employing  an  additional  num- 
ber of  seamen  and  marines,  being  before  the  House, 


44  LIFE  OF  GEOKGE  M.   TROUP.  [Cnu>.  III. 

Mr.  Troup  said  he  rose  but  for  the  purpose  of  stating 
facts  which  struck  him  as  being  applicable  to  the  subject 
before  the  House.  He  referred  chiefly  to  an  extract  of  a 
letter  written  to  himself,  and  published  in  the  paper  of  to- 
day. [Mr.  T.  then  read  the  extract  which  appeared  in  the 
National  Intelligencer  on  the  9th  instant.]  In  addition  to 
these  facts,*  letters  had  been  received,  in  the  course  of  this 
morning,  containing  further  particulars,  which  he  begged 
leave  to  state  to  the  House.  After  the  officer  (commander 
of  a  British  armed  vessel.)  had  been  forced  on  board  his 
vessel,  and  while  lying  in  our  waters  and  within  our  juris- 
diction, he  had  fired  several  shots  at  pilot-boats  passing 
and  repassing,  had  been  very  abusive,  and  threatened  the 
town  with  what  he  called  vengeance  ;  and,  in  addition  to 
these  facts,  letters  had  reached  Savannah  from  Liverpool, 
giving  satisfactory  information  ilia!  treaeela  "i'  fifteen  or 
twenty  guns  had  been  fitted  out  l«.r  the  purpose  of  forcing 
a  cotton  trade  with  South  Carolina  and  Georgia.  This  in- 
formation. Mr.  T.  said,  came  from  unquestionable  authority. 
And  it  was  because  lie  was  unwilling  that  the  people  of  this 
country  should  longer  submit  to  tlu-  abuse  of  British  naval 
officers;  because  lie  was  unwilling  that  they  should  be  ex- 
posed to  the  insolence  of  every  British  commissioned  puppy 
who  chose  to  insult  us;  because  lie  was  unwilling  that 
armed  vessels  should  force  a  cotton  trade,  when  every  man 
knew  that  nine-tenths  of  the  people  of  Georgia  would  treat 
as  traitors  the  violators  of  the  embargo  ;  it  was  for  this 
reason  that  he  was  disposed  to  vote  for  the  amendments  from 
the  Senate.  The  great  objection  which  had  been  taken  to 
them  was  the  expense  which  they  would  produce.  Econ- 
omy, Mr.  T.  said,  was  a  good  thing  in  time  of  peace;  but 
if  this  contracted  spirit  of  economy  predominated  in  our 
war  councils,  if  we  were  forced  into  a  war,  so  help  him 
God.  he  would  rather  at  once  tamely  submit  our  honor  and 


*    The  affair  of  tho  British  war  brig  Sandwich  i-    h.'iv  ivlerrod  to.    Having  anchored 
off  Tybee,  two  of  her    officers  came  up    to    Savannah,   and    were  immediatch 
because  of  the  violation  of  the  proclamation  of  the  President,  intordirtiiiR  our  harbors  and 
waters  to  all  British  armed  vessels.    The  vessel  reluctantly   pnttoMft;  but.  l,>-t..n-  il,,;: 
fired  several  shots  at  a  pilot-boat  in  the  harbor,  and  committed  other  ontraee*.— En. 


CHAP.  III.]       THE  TYBEE  OUTRAGE— INCREASE  OF  NAVY.  4.5 

independence  than  maintain  them  in  this  economical  way. 
If  we  went  to  war,  we  ought  not  to  adopt  little  measures  for 
the  purpose  of  executing  them  with  little  means  ;  neither 
should  we  refuse  to  adopt  great  measures  because  they 
could  not  be  executed  but  with  great  means.  It  was  very 
true  that,  in  war  as  well  as  in  peace,  calculation  to  a  certain 
extent  was  necessary ;  but,  if  they  once  resolved  on  an 
object,  it  hiust  be  executed  at  whatever  expense.  He  was 
no  advocate  for  standing  armies  or  navies,  generally  speak- 
ing ;  but,  in  discharging  his  duties  here,  he  must  be  gov- 
erned by  the  circumstances  of  every  case  which  presented 
itself  for  his  decision,  and  then  ask  himself,  Is  it  wise, 
politic  and  prudent  to  do  this  or  omit  that?  He  said  he 
would  never  go  back  to  yesterday  to  discover  what  he 
had  then  said  or  done,  in  order  to  ascertain  what  he  should 
now  do  or  say.  Political  conduct  must  depend  on  circum- 
stances. What  was  right  yesterday  might  be  wrong  today. 
JSTay,  what  was  right  at  the  moment  he  rose  to  address  the 
House,  might,  ere  this,  be  palpably  wrong.  Conduct  de- 
pended on  events,  which  depended  on  the  folly  or  caprice 
of  men  ;  and,  as  they  changed,  events  would  change.  It 
might  have  been  a  good  doctrine  long-  ago  that  this  country 
ought  to  have  a  navy  competent  to  cope  with  a  detachment 
of  the  British  navy  ;  it  might  have  been  good  doctrine  then, 
but  was  shocking  doctrine  now. 

At  that  time  England  had  to  contend  with  the  navies  of 
Russia,  Denmark,  France,  Holland,  Spain,  &c.  Now, 
England  was  sole  mistress  of  the  ocean.  To  fight  her,  ship 
to  ship  and  man  to  man,  (and  it  was  impossible  that  gentle- 
men could  think  of  fighting  her  otherwise,  if  they  fought  her 
at  all,)  we  must  build  up  a  huge  navy  at  an  immense  ex- 
pense. We  must  determine  to  become  less  agricultural 
and  more  commercial ;  to  incur  a  debt  of  five  hundred  or 
a  thousand  millions  of  dollars,  and  all  the  loans  and  taxes 
attendant  on  such  a  system,  and  all  the  corruption  attend- 
ant on  them.  He  should  as  soon  think  of  embarking  an 
hundred  thousand  men  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  France 
at  her  threshold,  as  of  building  so  many  ships  to  oppose 


46  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUPr  [CHAP.  III. 

the  British  navy.  It  was  out  of  the  question  ;  no  rational 
man  could  think  of  it.  But  that  was  not  now  the  question. 
It  was,  whether  we  would  call  into  actual  service  the  little 
navy  we  possessed.  It  was  not  even  a  question  whether 
we  would  have  a  navy  at  all  or  not.  If  that  were  the 
question,  he  would  not  hesitate  to  say  that  even  our  present 
political  condition  required  a  navy  to  a  certain  extent,  to 
protect  our  commerce  against  the  Barbary  Powers  in  peace, 
and  in  time  of  war  for  convoys  to  our  merchantmen.  lie 
only  meant  a  few  fast-sailing  frigates,  such  a  navy  as  we 
have  at  present,  for  the  purpose  of  harassing  the  commerce 
of  our  enemies  also.  He  therefore  thought  our  present 
naval  force  ought  to  be  put  in  service.  As  far  as  the  ap- 
propriation ($400,000,)  would  go,  it  would  be  employed  ; 
but  if  Congress  should  hereafter  see  cause  to  countermand 
or  delay  the  preparation,  they  would  have  it  in  their  power 
to  do  so  by  refusing  a  further  appropriation. 


In  perfect  consonance  with  the  fore^uinu.  WL-IV  his  views 
in  regard  to  the  Gunboat  system,  which  had  been  recom- 
mended by  President  Jefferson.  The  sunn?  subject  being 
before  the  House,  on  llth  January,  1809, 

Mr.  Troup  said  he  regretted  exceedingly  that  In- 
under  the  necessity  of  again  troubling  the  House,  but  he- 
felt  himself  bound,  in  some  measure,  to  state  more  particu- 
larly his  reasons  for  voting  for  the  bill,  and  to  rq.l- 
some  cogent  objections  made  from  it  quarter  of  the  House 
which  he  much  respected.  He  stated  anew  the  reasons 
which  he  had  given  why  the  United  States  should  have  ;i 
small  naval  force.  He  thought  it  indispensable  at  this 
time  to  man  and  equip  our  little  navy,  not  for  the  <nu-  or 
the  other  general  reason  in  its  favor  which  lie  before  stated, 
but  to  protect  from  violence  and  insult  the  territory  of  the 
United  States  ;  that  territory  which  gentlemen  in  this 
House  were  so  fond  of  calling  the  territory  of  the  good  old 
United  States—  he  meant  the  marine  league  from  the  shore 
—as  sacred  and  inviolable  as  any  spot  of  earth  within  our 
limits.  It  was  for  the  purpose  of  protecting  this  part  of 


CHAP.  Ill]  VIEWS  ON  THE  GUNBOAT  SYSTEM.  47 

our  territory,  for  removing;  those   cruisers  wlncli  are  com- 

«/  *  o 

petent  to  blockade  the  mouths  of  our  rivers,  that  he  wished 
this  navy  to  be  equipped.  Gentlemen  said  the  gunboats 
were  competent  to  the  protection  of  our  harbors.  Mr.  T. 
acknowledged  it ;  he  said  he  did  believe  that  the  invention 
of  man  never  devised  a  more  competent  system  than  gun- 
boats, co-operating  with  fortifications,  for  the  protection  of 
our  ports  and  harbors,  but  they  were  calculated  to  act  only 
on  shoals  and  in  smooth  waters.*  They  were  not  fit  for 
any  other  species  of  service ;  they  could  not  stand  the  winds 
and  the  waves,  the  billows  and  the  tempests.  And  notwith- 
standing our  ports  and  harbors  might  well  be  defended  by 
these  gunboats,  they  were  not  competent  to  the  purpose 
for  which  these  frigates  were  to  be  manned,  to  prevent 
blockades  of  our  own  waters.  [The  rest  of  this  speech  is 
omitted  for  want  of  room.] 

We  cannot  better  conclude  this  chapter  than  by  referring, 
briefly,  to  the  position  which  Col.  Troup  occupied  as  a 
public  man,  even  before  he  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  on  26th  October,  1807.  Twelve  days  be- 
fore, as  has  been  seen  by  his  letter  to  Mr.  Harris,  he  is 
found  in  close,  if  not  familiar,  conversation  with  the  Presi- 
dent, Mr.  Jefferson,  on  the  subject  of  our  foreign  relations 
— then  the  absorbing  question  of  the  day.  He  had  then 
just  completed  his  twenty-seventh  year,  had  not  entered 
upon  his  Congressional  duties,  and  it  was  no  small  com- 
pliment to  have  received,  in  advance,  the  confidence  of 
so  sagacious  a  statesman  as  the  then  chief  magistrate  of 
the  Union. 

The  second  session  of  the  tenth  Congress  terminated, 
and  the  Congress  itself  expired,  on  3d  March,  1809. 

The  next  chapter  will  be  devoted  to  Col.  Troup's  opposi- 
tion to  the  schemes  of  the  Yazoo  speculators. 

*  For  the  reasons  which  urged  Mr.  Jefferson  to  recommend  this  species  of  defence, 
see  his  special  message  of  February  10th,  1807.  Although  much  ridiculed  by  his  oppo- 
nents, at  the  time,  experience  has  proved  its  efficiency,  both  in  this  country  and  Europe, 
as  a  means  of  defence. — ED. 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

,,/  out  of  it,    /»•/".•••    Con 


IT  is  necessary  to  go  back  somewhat,  in  the  order  of 
time,  to  consider  the  course  of  events  flowing  from  an  in- 
famous fraud  upon  the  people  of  Georgia,  a  brief  statement 
of  which  we  have  already  given.  It  is  pleasant  to  reflect 
that  although  the  escutcheon  of  the  State  was  for  a  while 
tarnished  by  the  bribery  and  corruption  which  attempted 
the  alienation  of  an  immense  territory,  for  a  consideration 
almost  nominal,  yet  the  people,  rising  in  their  strength, 
and  with  an  honest  indignation,  rescued  the  character  of 
the  State  from  the  disgrace  which  cupidity  and  corrupt 
speculation  had  essayed.  Whilst  the  honest  nwn  would 
desire  to  turn  his  face  from  the  subject,  with  loathing,  still 
it  is  one  so  interwoven  with  the  history  of  the  country,  and 
especially  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  that  no  historian  can 
altogether  pass  it  over,  and  no  biographer  of  George  M. 
Troup  ought  to  do  it.  In  his  detestation  of  the  fraud,  he- 
stood  second  to  none  ;  in  effort  and  service  against  it,  no 
man  did  more  than  he,  unless  we  except  General  James 
Jackson.  Like  the  record  of  the  transaction  which  was 
burned  with  "  fire  from  heaven,"  *  it  could  be  wished  that 
the  history  of  it  had  perished  from  the  mind  of  man  ; 
but,  like  all  monuments  of  human  folly  and  human  crime, 
it  stands  alike  the  memorial  of  wickedness  and  the  beacon 
of  warning  against  avarice. 

About  the  time  of  the  passage  of  the  corrupt  Act,  the 
speculators  engaged  in  the  fraud  deposited  in  the  treasury 
the  sum  of  five  hundred  thousand  dollars,  being  the  amount 

*  Until  recently,  tho  writer  never  heard  a  doubt  expressed,  that,  on  the  occasion  of 
the  destruction  of  the  record  of  tho  Vazoo  Act,  fire  was  kindled  by  a  hurnin:;  gla«s.  All 
tradition  confirms  this  idea;  and  whilst  it  may  bo  true  that  the  onlii.ary  nnMina  of  apply- 
ing fire  -were  used,  on  that  occasion;  yet  thero  seems  to  be  no  reason  to  doubt  that, 
during  the  solemnities  of  tho  occasion,  and  as  expressive  of  public  detestation  of  the  Tazoo 
fraud,  the  sun-glass  was  also  used.  —  Ei>. 


CHAP.  IV.]  YAZOO  FRAUD.  49 

of  money  consideration  for  wTiich  the  grants  were  to  issue. 
By  a  statement  made  to  the  Legislature,  in  1813,  by  Gov. 
Mitchell,  it  appears  that  "  the  Tazoo  Deposit  was  origi- 
nated by  five  hundred  thousand  dollars  and  paid  into  our 
treasury  by  certain  companies  of  men,  in  consideration  of 
grants  which  they  received  from  the  State  for  a  large  tract  of 
our  western  territory,  since  ceded  by  Georgia  to  the  United 
States.  This  transaction  took  place  in  the  winter  of  1794. 
At  the  following  session  of  the  Legislature,  in  the  winter  of 
1795.  the  grants  issued  to  those  companies  were  declared 
null  and  void,  and  provision  was  made  for  the  repayment 
of  the  money  to  all  those  who  should  call  at  the  treasury 
and  produce  sufficient  evidence  of  the  amount  paid  by 
them.  Under  these  laws,  many  persons,  as  well  original 
grantees  as  those  called  sub-shareholders,  claimed  and  re- 
ceived from  our  treasury  three  hundred  and  ten  thousand 
six  hundred  and  ninety-five  dollars,  13  10-12  cents,  part  of 
the  original  five  hundred  thousand,  leaving  a  balance  of 
one  hundred  and  eighty -four  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
sixteen  dollars,  forty-seven  and  a  half  cents,  which  is  the 
amount  now  in  our  treasury,  subject  to  some  deduction  for 
guard  expenses,  &c." 

In  1798  Georgia  adopted  a  new  constitution,  by  the 
twenty-third  section  of  the  first  article  of  which  the  boun- 
daries of  the  State  were  declared  and  defined  as  stated  in 
the  beginning  of  this  work  ;  and  the  said  section  proceed, 
ed  to  say  : 

"  And  this  convention  doth  further  declare  and  assert 
that  all  the  territory  without  the  present  temporary  line 
and  within  the  limits  aforesaid,  is  now  of  right  the  pro- 
perty of  the  free  citizens  of  this  State,  and  held  by  them 
in  sovereignty,  inalienable  but  by  their  consent.  Provided 
nevertheless,  that  nothing  herein  contained  shall  be  construed 
so  as  to  prevent  a  sale  to,  or  contract  with,  the  United  States, 
by  the  Legislature  of  this  State,  of  and  for  all  or  any  part 
of  the  western  territory  of  this  State,  lying  westward  of 
the  river  Chattahoochee,  on  such  terms  as  may  be  benefi- 
cial to  both  parties  ;  and  may  procure  an  extension  of  set- 
tlement, and  an  extinguishment  of  Indian  claims,  in  and  to 
the  vacant  territory  of  this  State,  to  the  east  and  north  of 
7 


50  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  IV. 

the  said  river  Cbattalioochee,  to  which  territory  such  power 
of  contract  or  sale,  by  the  Legislature,  shall  not  extend  : 
And  provided  also,  the  Legislature  may  give  its  consent  to 
the  establishment  of  one  or  more  governments  westward 
thereof;  but  monopolies  of  land  by  individuals  being  con- 
trary to  the  spirit  of  our  free  government,  no  sale  of  terri- 
tory of  this  State,  or  any  part  thereof,  shall  take  place  to 
individuals,  or  private  companies,  unless  a  county  or  coun- 
ties shall  have  been  first  laid  off,  including  such  territory, 
and  the  Indian  rights  shall  have  been  extinguished  thereto." 
The  twenty-fourth  section  of  the  same  article  declared  : 
"  The  foregoing  section  of  this  article  having  declared 
the  common  rights  of  the  free  citizens  of  this  State  in  and 
to  all  the  territory  without  the  present  temporary  boundary 
line,  and  within  the  limits  of  this  State,  thereby  defined, 
by  which  the  contemplated  purchases  of  certain  companies 
of  a  considerable  portion  thereof  are  become  constitution- 
ally void,  and  justice  and  good  faith  require  that  the  State 
should  not  detain  a  consideration  for  a  contract  which  has 
failed;  the  Legislature  at  their  next  session  shall  make  pro- 
vision, by  law,  for  returning  to  any  person  or  persons  who 
has  or  have  bonajidc  deposited  moneys  for  such  purch: 
in  the  treasury  of  this  State:  Provided,  that  the  same 
shall  not  have  been  drawn  therefrom  in  terms  of  the  act 
passed  the  thirteenth  of  February,  one  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  ninety-six,  commonly  called  the  rescinding  act, 
or  the  appropriation  laws  of  the  years  one  thousand  seven 
hundred  and  ninety-six,  and  one  thousand  seven  hundred 
and  ninety-seven  ;  nor  shall  the  moneys,  paid  for  such  pur- 
chases, ever  be  deemed  a  part  of  the  funds  of  this  State,  or 
be  liable  to  appropriations  as  such  ;  but  until  such  moi>. 
be  drawn  from  the  treasury,  they  shall  be  considered  alto- 
gether at  the  risk  of  the  persona  who  have  deposited  the 
same,"  &c.,  &c. 

It  was  evident,  then,  that  the  Yaxoo  speculators  were  cut 
off  from  all  hope  of  profit  from  any  act  of  the  government 
of  Georgia ;  but,  to  put  the  matter  beyond  all  dispute,  the 
Legislature  of  179S-!)  not  only  passed  an  act  to  carrv  into 
effect  the  said  twenty-fourth  section  of  the  third  artic. 
the  constitution,  for  refunding  the  deposits  in  the  treasury 
nt,  on  the  10th  day  of  June,  1802,  an  act  was  passed,  « to 
ratify  and  confirm  certain  articles  of  agreement  and  cession 
entered  into  on  the  24th  day  of  April,  1802,  between  the 


CHAP.  IV.]  YAZOO  FRAUD.  5] 

commissioners  of  the  State  of  Georgia  on  the  one  part,  and 
the  commissioners  of  the  United  States  on  the  other  part," 
by  which  the  State  of  Georgia  ceded  to  the  United  States 
all  her  territory  not  included  in  the  present  limits  of  the 
State,  but  including  the  fraudulent  grants  to  the  Yazoo 
companies,  and  to  which  act  of  cession  we  shall  have  occa- 
sion more  particularly  to  refer  when  we  come  to  speak  of 
the  Creek  difficulties.  The  consideration  money  to  be  paid 
for  this  cession,  was  one  million  two  hundred  and  fifty 
thousand  dollars ;  besides  which,  it  was  stipulated  in  the 
second  condition  of  said  articles  of  cession,  "  that  all  per- 
sons who,  011  the  22d  day  of  October,  1795,  were  actual 
settlers  within  the  territory  thus  ceded,  shall  be  confirmed 
in  all  the  grants  legally  and  fully  executed  prior  to  that 
day,  by  the  former  British  government  of  West  Florida,  or 
by  the  government  of  Spain,  and  in  the  claims  which  may 
be  derived  from  any  actual  survey  or  settlement  made 
under  the  act  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  entitled  '  An  act 
for  laying  out  a  district  of  land  situate  on  the  river  Mis- 
sissippi, and  within  the  bounds  of  this  State,  into  a  county 
to  be  called  Bourbon,'  passed  the  7th  day  of  February, 
1785  ;  "  and  in  the  third  condition  it  was  further  provided, 
"  that  the  United  States,  for  the  period  and  until  the  end 
of  one  year  after  the  assent  of  Georgia  to  the  boundary  es- 
tablished by  this  agreement,  shall  have  been  declared, 
may,  in  such  manner  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  above 
mentioned  payment  to  the  State  of  Georgia,  nor  with  the 
grants  herein  before  recognized,  dispose  of  or  appropriate 
a  portion  of  the  said  lands  not  exceeding  five  millions  of 
acres,  or  the  proceeds  of  the  said  five  millions  of  acres,  or 
any  part  thereof,  for  the  purpose  of  satisfying,  quieting  or 
compensating  for  any  claims  other  than  those  herein  before 
recognized,  which  may  be  made  to  the  said  lands  or  to  any 
part  thereof.  It  being  fully  understood  that  if  an  act  of 
Congress  making  such  disposition  or  appropriation,  shall 
not  be  passed  into  a  law  within  the  above  mentioned  period 
of  one  year,  the  United  States  shall  not  be  at  liberty  there- 
after to  cede  any  part  of  the  said  lands,  on  account  of  claims 


52 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHIP.  IV. 


which  may  be  laid  to  the  same,  other  than  those  recognized 
bv  the  preceding  condition,  nor  to  compensate  for  the 
same ;  and  in  case  of  any  such  cession  or  compensation,  the 
present  cession  of  Georgia  to  the  right  of  the  soil  thus 
ceded  or  compensated  for,  shall  be  considered  as  null  and 
void,  and  the  lands  thus  ceded  or  compensated  for,  shall 
revert  to  the  State  of  Georgia." 

We  have  deemed  it  proper  to  premise  so  much,  in  order 
that  the  course  of  Col.  Troup  in  the  U.  S.  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, in  regard  to  the  Yazoo  speculation,  might  be 
better  understood.  But  it  is  necessary  to  make  a  further  ex- 
planation. Some  of  the  speculators,  or  their  assignees, 
having,  after  said  act  of  cession,  carried  the  matter  before 
Congress,  the  Legislature,  on  the  I'.'M  day  of  November, 
1807,  passed  the  following  preamble  and  resolutions  : 

"  Whereas,  in  the  year  seventeen  hundred  and  ninety- 
five,  as  will  be  recollected  with  emotions  of  indignation  by 
every  virtuous  citizen  of  this  State,  a  combination  of  in- 
fluential and  moneyed  men,  succeeded,  by^/vT^r//  and  cor- 
ruption, in  obtaining  the  passage  of  an  act,  conveying  the 
right  of  this  State  in  a  well  known  portion  of  the  western 
country,  called  YAZOO,  to  several  companies  of  purclia 
and  whereas  the  succeeding  Legislature,  duly  convinced  of 
the  flagitious  agency  which  had  procured  the  act  aforesaid, 
virtuously  determined,  by  a  rescinding  law,  to  prohibit  all 
contracts,  conveyances  and  grants  originating  in  that  fraud, 
from  being  carried  into  effect,  it  solemnly  becomes  this 
Legislature  to  support  and  preserve  consistent  the  reputa- 
tion cf  this  State,  by  denying  the  statement  of  a  band  of 
speculators,  combined  from  New  Hampshire  to  the  Missis- 
sippi, to  embezzle  the  funds,  either  of  this  State  or  the 
United  States,  and  to  riot  on  the  profits  of  an  extensive  tract 
of  country,  in  alleging,  falscly,  that  the  State  of  Georgia 
contemplated  in  the  articles  of  cession  to  the  United  States 
of  her  western  territory,  in  eighteen  hundred  and  two,  any 
compromise  of  the  Yazoo  claims  in  any  tray  whatever.  And 
inasmuch  as  it  is  important  to  the  decision  of  Congress  on 
this  subject,  and  greatly  so  to  the  dignity  and  justice  of 
the  State  of  Georgia,  that  the  truth  as  it  is  in  this  matter 
should  be  fully  and  unequivocally  defined  ;  it  is  therefore 
unanimously 

RESOLVED,  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of 


CHAP.  IV.]  YAZOO  FRAUD.  53 

the  State  of  Georgia,  in  General  Assembly  met,  That  they 
have  viewed  and  still  view  with  abhorrence,  the  attempt 
made  by  a  set  of  unprincipled  men,  commonly  known  by 
the  appellation  of  Yazoo  men,  to  corrupt  a  majority  of  the 
Legislature  of  this  State  in  the  year  1795  ;  which  attempt 
was  rendered  abortive  by  the  virtue  of  the  succeeding 
Legislature. 

Resolved,  That  it  never  was  the  intention  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  this  State,  when  they  ratified  certain  articles  of 
agreement  and  cession  entered  into  by  commissioners  ap- 
pointed by  the  State  of  Georgia  and  the  United  States,  to 
evince  any  desire  to  compromise  claims  that  originated 
in  fraud,  and  which  were  rendered  invalid  by  State 
sovereignty. 

Resolved,  That  the  thanks  of  the  Senate  and  House  of 
Representatives  of  the  State  of  Georgia  be  given  to  John 
Randolph,  member  of  Congress  from  the  State  of  Virginia, 
and  the  late  majority  of  the  ninth  Congress,  for  their  vir- 
tuous and  manly  opposition  to  a  compromise,  which  would 
in  their  opinion  equally  compromit  the  dignity  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States,  and  the  sovereignty  of  this 
State. 

Resolved,  That  the  Governor  be  requested  to  transmit 
copies  of  the  foregoing  resolutions  to  Mr.  Randolph,  to  the 
Secretary  of  State,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  the 
Attorney  General  of  the  United  States." 

The  claimants  having  therefore  no  hope  of  assistance 
from  the  State,  applied  to  the  federal  government  for  relief. 
It  is  not  necessary  to  trace  in  detail  the  rise  or  history  of 
these  applications  to  Congress.  It  will  appear  in  the  course 
of  this  history  that  the  claims  were  pressed  with  pertinacity, 
and  resisted  with  energy  at  every  step.  The  commission- 
ers of  the  United  States,  who  had  negotiated  with  the 
authorities  of  Georgia  for  the  cession  of  the  western  terri- 
tory, had,  in  their  report  to  Congress  as  early  as  February, 
1803,  recommended  an  adjustment  of  the  claims,  and  stated 
that  "  various  equitable  considerations,  which  may  be  urged 
in  favor  of  most  of  the  present  claimants,  render  it  expedi- 
ent to  enter  into  a  compromise  on  reasonable  terms."  But 
they  were  doomed  to  encounter  violent  opposition,  and  in 
opposing  these  claims  no  one  was  more  honest  or  zealous 
than  the  subject  of  this  biography. 


54:  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Cair.  IV. 

The  Legislature  of  Georgia  having  publicly  thanked  the 
eccentric  John  Randolph  for  his  "  virtuous  and  manly  op- 
position to  a  compromise,"  it  will  not  be  considered  irrele- 
vant if  we  give  here  some  extracts  from  one  of  his  speeches, 
especially  as  they  serve  to  throw  light  upon  what  follows. 

On  the  29th  March,  1806,  the  subject  came  before  the 
House,  on  a  message  from  the  Senate,  stating  that  they  had 
passed  a  bill  to  carry  into  effect  the  provisions  of  the  eighth 
section  of  the  "Act*  regulating  the  grants  of  land,  and 
providing  for  the  disposal  of  the  lands  of  the  United  States 
south  of  the  State  of  Tennessee."  A  motion  was  immedi- 
ately made  by  Mr.  Nelson,  of  Maryland,  that  the  bill  be 
rejected.  Mr.  Goldsborough,  another  member  from  Ma- 
ryland, having  made  a  fruitless  motion  to  postpone,  and 
having  then  requested  to  be  excused  from  voting.  "Mr. 
Randolph  said : 

I  hope  the  bill  will  be  rejected.  I  have  a  very  grea1 
spect  fora  full  and  fair  discussion  of  every  .pie-tion  hroughl 
before  this  assembly.  But  this  is  the  third,  and  F  do  not 
know  that  I  should  be  wrong  in  saying  it  is  the  fourth,  ses- 
sion since  this  business  has  been  pending  lu-foiv  Con- 
I  believe  that  the  report  of  the  commissioners  has  i 
printed  twice,  if  not  three  times,  for  the  information  of 
members.  This  bill,  we  are  told,  has  been  lying  twenty 
days  on  our  tables.  But,  had  it  come  before  the  House  but 
twenty  minutes  ago,  when  we  advert  to  the  history  of  the 
business,  I  am  willing  and  anxious  to  give  it  a  positive  and 
prompt  rejection.  My  memory  is  unfortunately  bad.  1 
do  not,  therefore,  recollect  when  this  subject,  so  well  de- 
nominated the  Yazoo  subject,  was  first  brought  into  this 
House.  I  know,  however,  it  was  several  sessions  a^jo,  and 
I  recollect  that  it  was  attended  with  some  peculiar  circum- 
stances. I  recollect  that,  important  as  the  subject  was,  the 
discussion  was  smothered  at  the  outset ;  and  when  I  take 
into  consideration  that  suppression  of  the  discussion,  with 
other  facts  in  my  own  knowledge,  there  is  the  stroi 
prima  facie  evidence  that  it  was  designedly  smothered. f 
But  it  may  be  said  that  the  suppression  of  that  discussion 
ought  to  render  it  more  proper  to  discuss  the  bill  before  you. 

*    For  this  Act,  sco  U.  S.  Statu:  .   1.  u,  pp.  2J'J  to  -2'.',:,.— Kr>. 

t    Injustice  to  the  Reporter,  it  ,  rit'4  thut  lie  explained  fully  tli 

why  the  debate  -was  unavoidably  omitted  from  the  House  proceedings. — ED. 


CHAP.  IT.]    YAZOO  FRAUD.— SPEECH  OF  MR.  RANDOLPH.  55 

On  the  contrary,  the  act  of  suppression,  three  or  four  years 
ago,  drew  the  attention  of  the  public  to  the  subject,  and 
caused  the  report  of  the  commissioners  to  be  republished,  I 
believe,  in  every  newspaper  in  America. 

Now,  what  will  be  the  consequence  of  this  business,  after 
having  received  the  attention  of  oue  branch  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  after  having  been  slurred  over  by  the  other  ?  I 
believe  it  would  require  no  prophet  to  pronounce  on  the 
event.  I  have  heard  of  a  certain  machine,  which  always 
gains  and  never  loses — a  machine  which  plain  wagoners 
call  a  shuffling  stick.  Every  step  it  gets  up  hill  is  sure, 
although  the  horse  be  restive,  or  the  wagon  be  loaded  too 
heavily,  or  the  driver  be  incapable — still  it  cannot  go  back 
again. 

I  am  for  the  rejection  of  the  bill  for  another  reason.  This 
bill  may  be  called  the  Omega,  the  last  letter  of  the  political 
alphabet ;  but,  with  me,  it  is  the  Alpha ;  it  is  the  head  of 
the  divisions  among  the  republican  party ;  it  is  the  secret 
and  covert  cause  of  the  whole.  This  is  the  subject  which 
has  been  shoved  off  from  day  to  day,  merely  that  we  might 
get  something  from  the  other  House,  where  its  friends  were 
more  numerous.  Yes,  a  union  has  been  formed  between 
Cape  Ann  and  Marblehead,  and  the  Rio  del  Norte,  a  union 
of  the  East  with  the  West,  which  makes  gentlemen  more 
touchy  and  jealous  of  one  acre  of  this  territory  than  of  all 
the  real  land  of  the  United  States.  This  has  been  seen, 
and  the  nation  is  sold.  I  say,  quoad  hos  or  illos,  the  nation 
is  sold.  "We  have  heard  of  this  thing  two  years  ago,  and  it 
has  come  to  pass.  No  prophets  so  true  as  those  who  have 
the  means  to  bring  things  to  pass.  The  Man  of  the 
Mountain  is  the  truest  prophet  that  ever  lived.  He  had 
only  to  prophesy,  to  insure  the  perdition  of  any  man. 

What  is  the  bill  on  which  this  House  is  called  to  act  or 
not  to  act  ?  If  the  gentleman  will  but  use  half  the  intelli- 
gence he  manifests  on  other  occasions,  instead  of  asking  to 
be  excused  from  giving  a  vote,  he  will  vote  for  an  instan- 
taneous rejection  of  this  bill.  The  facts  are  simply  these: 
That  in  1794  and  1795,  a  project  was  set  on  foot  to  debauch 
and  corrupt  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  and  to  obtain  for 
the  projectors  a  tract  of  country  more  extensive  than  any 
State  in  this  Union,  and  more  fertile  than  most  of  them  ; 
that  this  project  succeeded  ;  that  the  Legislature  of  Georgia 
was  bribed ;  that  for  a  mess  of  pottage,  to  be  eaten  by  them- 
selves, they  transferred  the  birth-right  of  their  countrymen. 
These  facts  are  in  proof  to  the  House;  and, instead  of  a 
postponement,  gentlemen  who  want  information  have  only 


56  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 

to  call  for  the  reading  of  the  records  on  your  table.  The 
sum  stipulated  to  be  paid  for  the  country  in  question,  era- 
bracing  at  the  least  forty  millions  of  acres,  was  S500,000. 
This  law  excited,  as  it  ought  to  have  excited,  in  the  people 
of  Georgia,  one  general  sentiment  of  indignation.  But  the 
corruption  had  pervaded  and  flooded  and  overflowed  every" 
department  of  the  government.  Grants  were  made  out, 
and  the  grantees  held  the  parchments  in  their  hands.  The 
people  of  Georgia  resolved  to  resort  to  first  principles.  It 
will  be  recollected  that  the  corrupt  law  was  passed  in  1  ?.'">. 
In  the  subsequent  spring,  the  grand  juries  of  the  several 
counties  made  a  unanimous  protest  against  its  passage  ;  tin- 
succeeding  Legislature  repealed  it,  burnt  the  parchment,  and 
exposed  its  authors.  And  what  are  we  now  al><>nt  to  do  '. 
Will  we,  after  following  an  illustrious  patriot f  to  his  grave, 
sully  the  fairest  page  in  his  history  by  giving  a  sanction  to 
this  measure?  The  people  will  say  you  are  mere  mum- 
mers, actors  that  put  on  false  garments  for  a  particular 
occasion,  and  the  moment  after  return  to  your  original 
insignificance.  The  law  was  burnt — it  was  expunged  from 
the  records  of  the  State,  and  the  rescinding  act  incorporated 
in  a  subsequent  constitution  made  by  the  people.  But  the 
grantees  under  the  first  act — under  the  corrupt  act — had 
their  post-horses  and  runners  ready,  who  ilew  to  the  Kast 
and  the  West,  the  North  and  the  South,  and  made  sale  of 
their  grants.  To  whom  did  they  sell  ?  To  persons  apprised 
of  the  original  invalidity  of  the  act.  But  if  they  did  not, 
does  that  change  the  question  ?  Who  are  the  Legislature  of 
Georgia?  The  delegates  of  the  people  of  Georgia.  Who 
were  the  sovereigns  of  the  several  States  before  the  Revolu- 
tion ?  _  The  representatives  of  the  Crown.  I  will  ask  you, 
then,  if  one  of  these  men  had  proceeded  to  give  away  the 
country,  whether  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  would  not 
have  set  aside  the  grant?  They  would.  Subsequently  to 
this,  the  United  States  received  from  the  State  of  Georgia 
a  grant  of  the  country  in  question,  and  of  other  country  not 
in  question.  In  receiving  this  grant,  they  acknowledged 
the  validity  of  the  rescinding  act  of  Georgia.  The  United 

IQ  White's  Statistics  of  Georgia,  page  50,  it  is  said,  "no  corruption  was  impi: 
Governor  (Mathews).    It  is  just    tu    his    memory— that    of   u  M.l.li,  r  who  h;id  »,...  :. 
nisand    laurels  in  the  war  of  independence— to   affirm  that  v  judgment,  not 

rruption  of  heart,  guided    the    pen    which  sanctioned  the  detested  statute."     There  is  a 
ion,  that  his  Secretary,  to  prevent  the  passage  of  the  law,  ilipp.-.l  the  (J,,v.  mart  pen 
oil;  and  that,  after  repeated  trials,    finding    the   pen   w.nild    not    write,    the  C. 
seized  another  pen  and  signed  the  bill.— ED. 

IWanfa  Jame3  JaCk,S°n>  *  Senator  from  Georgia,  who  died  in  Washington  City,  on  the 


CHAP.  IV.]     YAZOO  FRAUD.— SPEECH  OF  MR.  RANDOLPH.  57 

States,  when  they  received  the  grant,  were  apprised  of  the 
preceding  transfers,  and  the  acceptance  of  the  country  from 
Georgia  is  unequivocal  evidence  of  their  opinion  that  the 
original  act  of  1795  was  null  and  void.  But  in  a  country 
so  extensive  as  this,  in  which  some  settlements  had  been 
previously  made  under  British,  Spanish,  and  other  grants, 
from  the  State  of  Georgia,  than  those  of  1795,  it  will  be 
readily  believed  there  were  many  antagonizing  claims  for 
lands.  When,  therefore,  the  United  States  received  the 
country  from  Georgia,  they  entered  into  a  compact  with 
Georgia,  or  obtained  permission  from  her,  to  give  land  not 
exceeding  five  millions,  to  satisfy  claims  not  provided  for 
in  the  original  contract  with  her.  Now  the  bill  before  you 
proposes  to  give  this  land  as  far  as  it  goes,  and  to  pledge 
the  faith  of  the  United  States  to  that  particular  class  of 
claimants  whose  pretensions  arise  under  the  act  of  1795. 
These  claims  under  the  act  of  1795,  are  the  last  class  of 
claims  under  the  State  of  Georgia,  which,  in  my  opinion, 
the  United  States  are  bound  to  satisfy.  There  is  another 
description  of  claims,  called  the  claims  of  1789.  And  I  am 
very  glad  the  claims  of  1789  are  not  included  in  this  bill, 
because  the  joint  interest  of  the  two  classes  might  possibly 
have  an  effect  that  in  this  House  a  single  class  would  not. 
Well,  Congress  took  the  grant  of  the  country  in  question 
from  Georgia.  They  bound  themselves  to  extinguish  the  In- 
dian title  to  lands  within  the  existing  State  of  Georgia  ;  to 
Georgia  they  stipulated  to  pay  a  certain  sum  of  money,  and 
they  reserved  the  right  of  appropriating  a  quantity  of  lands 
not  exceeding  five  millions  of  acres  to  satisfy  claims  not 
specially  recognized  in  the  contract  with  Georgia.  The 
question  now  is,  as  I  take  it,  whether  these  five  millions 
shall  go  to  satisfy  the  claims  under  the  act  of  1795.  But  if 
it  should  be  the  sense  of  the  House  that  the  bill  includes 
those  likewise  of  1789,  it  will  not  alter,  in  my  opinion,  the 
question. 

But  I  may  be  asked  by  men  who  "profess  not  to  be  in- 
formed on  this  subject,  what  is  this  act  of  1789,  and  who  are 
the  claimants  under  it,  and  how  can  there  be  interfering 
claims  for  the  same  land  ?  The  case  is  simply  this  :  In 
1789  two  companies  were  formed,  under  the  names  of  the 
South  Carolina  and  the  Virginia  Yazoo  Companies,  who 
contracted  for  a  great,  and  the  greater  part  of  the  country 
afterwards  purchased  by  the  claimants  under  the  act  of 
1795.  But  Georgia  alleges  that  they  did  not  comply  with 
their  contract,  and  that  it  was  therefore  set  aside,  and  the 
same  lands  subsequently  sold  under  the  act  of  1795.  Be  it 


58  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV 

remembered  that  the  purchasers  under  the  act  of  1795 
were  men  of  understanding,  of  intelligence,  of  intrigue; 
designing  men  ;  speculators;  not  bullies,  but  swindlers; 
men  not  to  be  imposed  on,  but  with  their  eyes  open.  They 
bought  with  a  full  knowledge  of  the  equitable  claims  of 
1789.  When  I  say  this,  I  do  not  mean  to  advocate  the 
claims  of  1789.  When  put  to  the  test,  one  description  of 
claims  will  be  found  as  invalid  as  the  other.  But  to  whom 
did  the  grantees  under  the  act  of  1705,  sell  ?  After  the  pre- 
sentments of  the  grand  juries — after  it  had  rung  throughout 
the  continent — that  the  whole  was  an  imposition  of  corrup- 
tion and  fraud,  and  after  there  was  every  reason  to  believe 
they  were  acquainted  with  all  the  circumstances,  deeds 
were  given,  one  of  which  bears  contemporaneous  date  with 
the  rescinding  act  of  Georgia.  After  this,  what  did  they 
do?  They  went  back  to  Georgia:  there  the  money  they 
had  paid  was  still  lying  in  the  treasury  of  Georgia,  with 
which  Georgia  said  she  would  have  nothing  to  do ;  after 
having  sold  the  lands  for  which  they  had  paid  this  half 
million,  they  drew  this  very  money  from  the  treasury  of 
Georgia.  Is  this  the  say-so  of  an  individual '.  The  act  ap- 
pears in  the  report  of  your  commis-i.. :!,•!•>.  composed  of  the 
Secretary  of  State,  the  Secretary  of  the  Trea-urv,  and  the 
late  Attorney  General,  in  a  report  now  on  your' table,  and 
which  has  been  twice  published  under  the  authority  of  this 
House. 

The  bill  was  rejected,  the  same  day,  by  a  vote  of  sixty- 
two  to  fifty-four.  Mr.  Randolph  then  "moved  that  the 
House  adjourn.  He  said  that  a  few  days  ago  the  House 
had  adjourned  on  account  of  the  death  of  General  Jackson. 
He  hoped  they  would  now  adjourn  on  account  of  his  resur- 
rection. For  he  had  told  him,  that  if  he  could  give  a 
death-blow  to  the  Yazoo  business,  he  should  die  in  peace. 
Adjourned,  yeas  fifty-eight." 

^  This  occurred  before  the  entrance  of  Colonel  Tronp  into 
Congress.  During  the  session  of  1807-8,  the  same  subject 
came  before  the  House,  on  a  memorial  signed  by  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts  by  order  and  at  the  unanimous  re- 
quest of  the  Legislature  of  that  State,  «  praying  the  atten- 
tion of  the  National  Government  to  the  claim  and  rights 

sundry  citizens  of  the  said  State  of  Massachusetts  in  and 


CHAP.  IV.]    YAZOO  FRAUD.— REMARKS  OF  COL.  TROUP.  59 

to  certain  lands  purchased  under  grants  of  the  State  of 
Georgia,"  &c.  Mr.  Bibb,  of  Georgia,  immediately  moved 
the  rejection  of  the  memorial.  In  seconding  the  motion, 
Col.  Troup  made  a  short  speech,  in  which,  amongst  other 
things,  he  said : 

The  memorial,  on  a  subject  on  which  the  House  had  be- 
fore decided,  and  that  on  the  most  mature  deliberation,  was 
treating  the  House  with  disrespect;  it  was  an  attempt  (it 
could  be  considered  in  no  other  light)  to  tease  the  IJouse; 
to  torture  it  into  a  compliance  with  the  prayer  of  the  peti- 
tion. The  House  was  to  be  provoked  into  a  surrender  of 
important  rights  to  get  rid  of  the  memorialists.  They  were 
bound  to  listen  to  a  memorial  couched  in  decent,  proper 
and  respectful  terms,  but  not  to  the  language  of  insult — 
and  this  was  an  insult  upon  this  body,  calling  upon  it  to 
sanction  corruption  so  vile  and  infamous.  With  this  im- 
pression he  should  second  the  motion  of  his  colleague. 
During  the  same  debate,  Col.  Troup  said  : 
He  was  extremely  sorry  that  on  this  subject  he  should 
trouble  the  House — he  felt  at  this  time  particularly  dis- 
qualified. Was  this  business  never  to  be  finally  disposed 
of?  Did  the  claimants  calculate  their"  chances  of  success 
on  the  confidence,  or  rather  on  the  audacity,  with  which 
they  urged  their  claims  ?  Was  the  justice  of  their  claims  to 
be  esiirnated  by  the  indefatigable  assiduity  with  which  they 
renewed  their  pretensions  ?  and  pretensions,  too,  which 
were  audacious,  unfounded  and  insolent — originating  in 
fraud  and  corruption — embellished  with  murder,  perjury, 
and  every  species  of  enormity !  He  trusted  there  was 
virtue  sutficient  in  this  Assembly  to  treat  the  claimants 
with  contempt.  He  flattered  himself  that  the  Legislature 
would  not  degrade  itself  by  a  compromise  with  speculation 
and  corruption  ;  he  presumed  the  Capitol  was  not  the  place 
where  speculators  were  to  seek  indemnity.  If  it  were,  they 
had  better  appropriate  five  or  six  millions  of  acres  to  these 
injured  persons — to  these  miscalculators  of  profit  and  loss, 
or  rather  to  these  men  ruined  by  the  unsuccessful  exercise 
of  the  arts  of  bribery  and  corruption.  What  did  the  me- 
morialists demand  ?  That  this  House  should  indemnify 
them  for  losses  sustained  by  the  act  of  Georgia.  Would 
they  do  it  on  the  broad  principle  of  relieving  all  speculators 
in  distress,  or  from  the  cession  to  the  United  States,  by  the 
State  of  Georgia,  of  the  land  in  question  \  On  the  last 
principle,  they  would  not  presume  to  attempt  it;  for  they 


60  LIFE    OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 

knew  that  they  had  not  the  power.  On  this  account,  he  wish- 
ed the  memorial  to  be  rejected,  lie  was  as  much  disposed  as 
any  gentleman  on  the  floor  to  treat  the  State  of  Massachu- 
setts with  respect,  as  an  integral  part  of  the  Union  ;  but,  lie 
would  ask,  what  right  had  the  State  of  Massachusetts  t«> 
interfere  with  an  individual  claim  ?  None. 

The  subject  again  came  before  the  House,  on  the  \-2(\\  of 
February,  1808,  on  the  memorial  of  Joseph  (afterwards 
Judge)  Story,  as  the  agent  of  the  New  England  Mississippi 
Company,  praying  that  lie  might  "  be  admitted  to  a  hear- 
ing at  the  bar  of  the  House  of  Representatives  in  behalf  of 
said  company,  to  state  their  rights  and  explain  their  claim-," 
and  a  resolution  offered  to  hear  said  agent.  The  mover  of 
the  resolution  (Mr.  Bacon,  of  Massachusetts,)  said,  "this 
was  not  a  question  which  required  any  abstruse  reasoning 
or  deep  research  for  facts.  He  had  taken  this  resolution 
from  a  precedent,  which  he  found  recorded,  of  a  similar  in- 
dulgence granted  to  the  South  Carolina  Company,  who 
were  heard  at  the  bar  of  the  House  in  support  of  their 
claim,  by  Mr.  Moultrie,  their  agent,  in  a  nearly  similar 
case/' 

Mr.  Troup  hoped  the  resolution  would  not  be  adopted. 
The  precedent  adduced  was  not  in  point ;  that  was  in  the 
case  of  an  application  to  be  heard  on  the  subject  of  the  old 
Virginia  and  South  Carolina  claims.     It  will  'be  recollected 
by  the  House  that  the  case  adduced  in  precedent  was  an 
old,  a  dormant  claim,  which  had  slept  long,  and  the  prin- 
ciples of  which  were  almost  forgotten  by  members  of  the 
House,  and,  when  application  was  made  for  hearing,  they 
determined  to  hear  all  that  could  be  said,  that  they  might 
act  understandingly  on  the  subject.     They  did  hear,  and 
were  satisfied ;  from  that  time  to  this  the  House  had  had  no 
further  trouble  with  it.     The  claims  of  these  persons,  how- 
ever, have  been  turned  over  from  session  to  session,  can- 
vassed over   and   over  again  :  and  the  House  are  as  well 
conversant  with  the   merits  of  the  claim  as  with  its  advo- 
[   do  not  know  whether  it  is  customary  to  admit 
within  its  bar  the  advocates  of  claims.     For  my  part,  I  do 
know  if  such   persons  were  admitted  within  the  bar. 
nat  1  would  keep  my  seat  and  listen.     It  is  impossible  that 
House  could  be  so  lost  to  a  sense  of  its  own  dignitv  a- 


CHAP.  IV.]  REMARKS  OF  COL.  TROTJP.  61 

to  enter  into  a  controversy  on  its  own  floor  with  speculators 
or  their  agents.  In  discussion  of  this  subject  among  our- 
selves, our  utmost  coolness  and  care  will  be  required  to 
keep  us  in  temper  with  each  other  ;  and  the  admission  of  a 
stranger  within  this  bar,  for  the  purpose  of  irritating,  and, 
perhaps,  insulting  us — and  I  beg  gentlemen  to  recollect 
that  the  theme  is  extremely  delicate — will  not  increase  the 
calmness  which  ought  to  be  observed.  What  is  the  object 
of  the  present  motion?  Is  it  proposed,  by  admitting. a 
practicing  attorney  on  this  floor,  to  enlighten  us  on  a  sub- 
ject of  which  we  are  profoundly  ignorant  ?  'No  ;  with  the 
principle  of  this  claim  we  are  all  acquainted.  Its  object  is 
to  give  some  strength  to  a  claim  which  hasnotthe  smallest 
foundation  in  justice,  and  they  know  it.  They  have  no 
more  claim  on  the  United  States  than  on  you  or  me.  Why, 
then,  do  they  call  upon  us  ?  Because  the  United  States 
has  an  overflowing  treasury.  If  I  had  it,  they  would  make 
the  same  claim  upon  me.  They  are  the  cormorants  which 
perch  upon  the  treasuries  of  all  nations  ;  and  as  long  as  you 
have  gold  and  silver,  and  manifest  a  disposition  to  give, 
they  will  stick  to  you.  I  thought,  for  my  part,  that  one 
discussion  would  have  sufficed  for  them  ;  on  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  original  memorial,  you  listened  to  it,  and  sub- 
mitted it  to  a  Committee  of  the  whole  House.  I  was 
anxious  that  all  discussion  on  this  subject  should  have  been 
waived  :  it  might  have  been,  and  I  had  hoped  it  would.  I 
myself  would  have  submitted  my  individual  feelings  to  the 
harmony  of  the  nation,  and  am  sorry  that  I  am  now  com- 
pelled to  speak. 

On  the  same  day,  Col.  Troup  delivered  another  animated 
speech  on  the  same  subject.  The  question  was  taken  on 
the  resolution,  and  it  was  rejected  by  yeas  twenty-eight 
to  nays  seventy-six. 

In  order  to  present  here  a  general  view  of  the  further 
progress  of  this  subject,  it  is  necessary  to  go  forward  some- 
what out  of  the  chronological  order  of  this  biography.  It 
is  chiefly  for  the  part  which  Col.  Troup  took,  in  opposition 
to  these  claims,  that  we  have  introduced  the  subject  at  all. 

On  the  17th  December,  1810,  he  offered  the  following 
resolution  in  the  House  : 

Resolved,  That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  be  directed 
to  lay  before  this  House  any  information  he  may  have 


62  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 

touching  any  settlement,  contrary  to  law,  on  the  public 
lands  in  the  Mississippi  Territory;  by  whom,  at  what  pe- 
riods and  extent,  and  what  measures  had  been  taken  to 
remove  such  intruders  on  the  public  lands. 

In  explaining  the  resolution,  he  said  his  object  was  to 
obtain  information  as  to  certain  lands  in  the  Mississippi 
Territory  ;  the  title  to  which  the  United  States  had,  on  the 
one  hand,  declared  to  be  vested  in  them,  and  the  Supremo 
Court,  on  the  other  hand,  had  declared  not  to  be  in  the 
United  States,  but  in  those  persons  claiming  under  the 
Yazoo  speculation.  This  decision  must  either  be  acquiesced 
in  or  resisted  by  the  United  States.  If  acquiesced  in,  it 
must  be  in  one  of  two  ways.  The  United  States  must 
either  permit  the  Supreme  Court  to  execute  its  judgment 
in  the  ordinary  course,  or  must  permit  quiet  p,>-.-(— ion  to 
be  taken  by  the  claimants.  Whether  they  acquiesce  in  one 
way  or  the  other,  two  distinct  great  rights  were  ati'erted  : 
first,  the  great  interest  of  the  whole  people  of  the  United 
States,  claiming  equal  and  common  proprietorship  of  the 
soil;  and,  second,  the  great  interest  of  the  people  of 
Georgia,  to  whom  the  United  States  had  agreed  to  pay 
$1,250,000,  out  of  the  proceeds  of  the  sales  of  those  lands. 
If  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  St, 
was  acquiesced  in,  the  State  of  Georgia  would  be  thus  de- 
frauded both  of  her  land  and  money.  But  if  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  would  not  submit  to  this  decision, 
but  resist  it  to  the  last  extremity,  what  course  could  be  taken 
but  to  employ  the  whole  military  force  of  the  United  States 
to  eject  all  persons  not  claiming  under  the  authority  of  the 
United  States  ?  If  that  description  of  persons  claiming  the 
territory,  in  whose  behalf  a  decision  was  lately  made,  taking 
forcible  possession,  should  obtain  such  a  footing  as  to  be  able 
to  oppose  to  the  authority  of  the  United  States  a  considerable 
force,  there  would  perhaps  be  no  alternative  but  for  the  Uni- 
ted States  to  remove  them  by  an  exertion  of  its  military 
power,  or  tamely  to  acquiesce  in  the  lawless  aggression.  It 
was  from  these  considerations  that  he  was  desirous  to  have 
information  on  the  subject  of  the  late  settlements  there. 

The  resolution  was  adopted.  The  decision  of  the'  Su- 
preme Court,  to  which  reference  was  above  made,  is  that 
in  the  case  of  Fletcher  v.  Peck,  6  Crancu's  Rep.,  87  to  14S,  at 
February  term,  1810 ;  a  case  originating  in  the  U.  S.  Cir- 
cuit Court  for  the  District  of  Massachusetts,  and  which  was 
brought  to  try  the  title  to  15,000  acres  of  laud  situate  on 


CHAP.  IV.]  CASE  IN  THE  SUPREME  COURT.  63 

the  Mississippi  and  Tombigby  rivers,  under  and  by  virtue 
of  sundry  mesne  conveyances  founded  on  a  grant  from  the 
State  of  Georgia  under  the  act  of  7th  January,  1Y95. 
Those  who  are  curious  in  such  matters  are  referred  to  the 
decision  itself  for  information  on  all  the  points  adjudicated 
by  the  Court ;  but  the  following  extracts  we  believe  suffi- 
cient to  show  the  general  grounds  on  which,  the  judgment 
in  that  case  was  rendered  : 

This  (say  the  Court)  is  not  a  bill  brought  by  the  State  of 
Georgia  to  annul  the  contract ;  nor  does  it  appear  to  the 
court,  by  this  count,  that  the  State  of  Georgia  is  dissatisfied 
with  the  sale  that  has  been  made.  The  case,  as  made  out 
in  the  pleadings,  is  simply  this.  One  individual,  who  holds 
lands  in  the  State  of  Georgia  under  a  deed  covenanting  that 
the  title  of  Georgia  was  in  the  grantor,  brings  an  action  of 
covenant  upon  this  deed,  and  assigns,  as  a  breach,  that  some 
of  the  members  of  the  Legislature  were  induced  to  vote  in 
favor  of  the  law  which  constituted  the  contract,  by  being 
promised  an  interest  in  it,  and  that  therefore  the  act  is  a 
mere  nullity.  This  solemn  question  cannot  be  brought  thus 
collaterally  and  incidentally  before  the  court.  It  would  be 
indecent,  in  the  extreme,  upon  a  private  contract  between 
two  individuals,  to  enter  into  an  inquiry  respecting  the 
corruption  of  the  sovereign  power  of  a  State.  If  the  title 
be  plainly  deduced  from  a  legislative  act,  which  the  Legis- 
lature might  constitutionally  pass,  if  the  act  be  clothed  with 
all  the  requisite  forms  of  a  law,  a  court,  sitting  as  a  court 
of  law,  cannot  sustain  a  suit  brought  by  one  individual 
against  another,  founded  on  the  allegation  that  the  act  is 
a  nullity  in  consequence  of  the  impure  motives  which  in- 
fluenced certain  members  of  the  Legislature  which  passed 
the  law.  *  If  a  suit  be  brought  to  set  aside  a 

conveyance  obtained  by  fraud,  and  the  fraud  be  clearly 
proved,  the  conveyance  will  be  set  aside,  as  between  the 
parties ;  but  the  rights  of  third  persons,  who  are  purchasers 
without  notice  for  a  valuable  consideration,  cannot  be  dis- 
regarded. Titles  which,  according  to  every  legal  test,  are 
perfect,  are  acquired  with  that  confidence  which  is  inspired 


64:  LIFE  OF  GEOEGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 

by  the  opinion  that  the  purchaser  is  safe.  If  there  be  any 
concealed  defect,  arising  from  the  conduct  of  those  who 
had  held  the  property  long  before  he  acquired  it,  of  which 
he  had  no  notice,  that  concealed  defect  cannot  be  set  up 
against  him.  He  has  paid  his  money  for  a  title  good  at 
law,  he  is  innocent,  whatever  may  be  the  guilt  of  others : 
and  equity  will  not  subject  him  to  the  penalties  attached  to 
that  guilt.  All  titles  would  be  insecure,  and  the  intercourse 
between  man  and  man  would  be  very  seriously  obstructed, 
if  this  principle  be  overturned. 

It  is  not  proposed  to  combat  the  rulings  of  the  court  as 
the  case  actually  stood  before  it  upon  the  pleadings.  The 
points  decided  by  the  Court,  in  the  above  extracts,  appi.-:ir 
to  be  these  :  First,  Georgia  not  being  a  complaining  party, 
the  question  could  not  be  collaterally  and  incidentally  de- 
cided. Secondly,  For  aught  that  appeared,  the  act  was 
constitutionally  passed.  Thirdly,  There  was  nothing  on  the 
face  of  the  pleadings  to  show  that  the  defendant  was  not  a 
purchaser  in  good  faith  for  a  valuable  consideration.  The 
case  was  one  of  inference  and  presumption  from  the  plead- 
ings. How  these  inferences  were  met  by  the  opponents  of 
the  act,  amongst  whom  Col.  Troup  was  one  of  the  ablest, 
will  now  appear. 

On  the  19th  of  January,  1813,  a  bill  passed  the  United 
States  Senate,  to  carry  into  effect  the  report  of  James 
Madison,  Secretary  of  State,  Albert  Gallatin,  Secretary 
of  the  Treasury,  and  Levi  Lincoln,  Attorney  General  of 
the  United  States,  Commissioners,  &c.,  in  the  year  1803, 
recommending  an  equitable  compromise  with  the  Yazoo 
claimants.  It  passed  a  third  reading  in  the  Senate,  against 
the  votes  of  William  II.  Crawford  and  Charles  Tait,  Sen- 
ators from  Georgia.  On  the  20th  of  January,  the  bill  was 
read  a  first  time  in  the  House,  and  on  a  motion  to  read  it 
the  second  time  and  commit  it,  Col.  Troup,  having  asked  if 
a  motion  to  reject  the  bill  would  not  supersede  a  motion  to 
commit,  and  being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  said  : 


CHAP.  IV.]          FURTHER  REMARKS  OF  COL.  TROUP  65 

It  is  on  no  ordinary  occasion,  sir,  I  would  permit  myself 
to  move  the  rejection  of  a  bill  on  the  first  reading,  coming 
from  another  branch  of  the  Legislature,  but  the  measure 
growing  out  of  an  hideous  corruption,  I  owe  it  to  you  to 
move,  because  I  think  you  owe  it  to  your  own  dignity  to 
reject  the  bill,  not  upon  any  dubious  evidence  of  the  fraud 
and  corruption  of  the  Georgia  Legislature,  but  upon  evi- 
dence satisfactory  to  you  and  to  all  mankind,  spread  upon 
your  own  records  by  commissioners  of  your  own  appoint- 
ment, and  which  the  clerk  can  be  called  on  to  read.  The 
nature,  the  extent,  the  detail  of  corruption  by  which  the 
Legislature  of  Georgia  were  induced  to  sell  the  public  pro- 
perty, are  there  portrayed  by  your  own  commissioners.  It 
is  stated  that  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  Legislature  were 
bribed  and  corrupted,  were  interested  in  and  parties  to  the 
purchase.  They  show  you  that  A  received  112,000  acres 
of  land  for  his  vote  ;  that  B  received  75,000  acres  for  his 
vote;  that  C  received  56,000  acres  for  his  vote,  and  that 
none  received  less  than  56,000  acres.  It  is  upon  this  record 
evidence,  then,  that  I  move  you  to  reject  the  bill.  You 
rejected  the  bill  from  the  Senate,  on  the  first  reading,  for 
the  suspension  of  the  habeas  corpus  act.  Why  ?  Because 
the  bill  contained  a  principle  violative  of  civil  liberty.  I 
move  you  to  reject  this  bill!  Why?  Because  it  contains 
a  principle  destructive  of  republican  government.  The 
purity  and  incorruptibility  of  the  representative  character 
is  the  basis  of  our  republican  institutions — if  there  be  one 
principle  of  our  government  more  fundamental  than  an- 
other, it  is  that  no  benefit  or  profit  or  advantage  shall  re- 
sult either  immediately  or  remotely  to  any  human  being 
from  the  corruption  of  the  representatives  of  the  people. 
The  bill  proposes  to  give  five  millions  of  dollars  to  those 
claiming  under  the  corrupters  of  representatives  of  the 
people.  The  corrupters  only  gave  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars — the  United  States  only  gave  twelve  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  to  Georgia  for  her  territory.  The 
bill  proposes  to  give  five  millions  of  dollars  to  the  claim- 
ants— five  millions  of  dollars  to  extinguish  their  claim. 
You  are  required  to  reward  the  claimants  who  bought  of 
those  who  corrupted  the  Legislature  of  Georgia.  We  say, 
no !  Let  ruin  overtake  the  corrupters  of  the  representatives 
of  the  people  and  all  claiming  under  them.  The  corrupters 
have  made  their  fortunes,  now  you  are  called  upon  to  make 
the  fortunes  of  the  claimants ;  this  is  to  be  precedent,  this 
is  to  be  example. 

The  claimants  have  hitherto  urged  their  claim  with  in- 
9 


g6  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 

defatigable  perseverance,  they  have  teased  and  wearied 
you  ;  you  have  constantly  repelled  them  :  they  ^  have  seen 
their  discomfiture  in  the  justness  and  simplicity  of  your 
reasoning.  You  say  to  them,  in  substance,  the  Yazoo  act 
having  been  fraudulently  and  corruptly  obtained,  was  null 
and  void,  db  initlo.  All  contracts  founded  in  fraud  are 
void.  It  could  pass  no  right ;  if  it  could  pass  no  right  to 
the  original  purchasers,  it  is  impossible  that  the  original 
purchasers  could  pass  any  right  to  the  claimants ;  and  if 
no  right  passed  to  the  claimants,  it  is  impossible  they  can 
have  a  claim  or  shadow  of  claim  against  you.  They 
constantly  found  themselves  foiled  by  this  honesty  and  sim- 
plicity of  reasoning.  Seeing  you  firm  and  inflexible,  they 
turned  about  and  addressed  themselves  to  the  Judiciary. 
They  found  in  the  law-books  of  England  a  maxim  which 
suited  them  ;  two  of  the  speculators  combined  and  made  up 
a  fictitious  case,  a  feigned  issue  for  the  decision  of  the  Su- 
preme Court.*  They  presented  precisely  those  points  for 
the  decision  of  the  court  which  they  wished  the  court  to 
decide ;  and  the  court  did  actually  decide  them  as  the 
speculators  themselves  would  have  decided  them  if  they 
had  been  in  the  place  of  the  Supreme  Court.  The  first 
point  was,  whether  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  had  the 
power  to  sell  the  territory  ?  Yes,  said  the  Judges,  they  had. 
Second,  whether  by  the  Yazoo  act  an  estate  did  vest  in  the 
original  grantees  ?  Yes,  said  the  Judges,  it  did.  Third, 
whether  it  was  competent  to  any  subsequent  Legislature 
to  set  aside  the  acton  the  ground  of  fraud  and  corruption  ? 
No,  said  the  Judges,  it  was  not ;  an  estate  did  vest  in  the 
grantees  by  the  Yazoo  act,  which  could  not  be  divested  by 
the  act  of  any  subsequent  Legislature.  No  matter,  say  the 
Judges,  what  the  nature  or  extent  of  the  corruption,  be  it 
ever  so  wicked,  be  it  ever  so  nefarious,  it  could  not  be  set 
aside.  The  speculators  had  hunted  up  a  maxim  of  the  com- 
mon law  or  equity  courts  of  England,  and  the  Judges 
wielded  it  for  their  benefit  and  to  the  ruin  of  the  country— 
the  maxim  that  third  purchasers  without  notice  shall  not 
be  affected  by  the  fraud  of  the  original  parties.  Thus,  sir, 


In   delivering   his    separate    opinion    in    the    case  of  Fletcher  v.  Peck,  Mr   Jtutioc 

'I  have  been  very   unwilling   to   proceed  to  the  decision  of  this  i 
:   appears   to   me  to   bear   strong   evident*    ,„ .  ing  a 


CHAP.  IV.]          FURTHER  REMARKS  OF  COL.  TROUP.  67 

by  a  maxim  of  English  law,  are  the  rights  and  liberties  ot 
the  people  of  this  country  to  be  corruptly  bartered  by  their 
representatives.  It  is  this  decision  of  the  Judges  which 
has  been  made  the  basis  of  the  bill  on  your  table — a  deci- 
sion shocking  to  every  free  government,  sapping  the  foun- 
dation of  all  your  constitutions,  and  annihilating  at  a  breath 
the  best  hope  of  man.  Yes,  sir,  it  is  proclaimed  by  the 
Judges,  and  is  now  to  be  sanctioned  by  the  Legislature, 
that  the  representatives  of  the  people  may  corruptly 
betray  the  people,  may  corruptly  barter  their  rights  and 
those  of  their  posterity,  and  the  people  are  wholly  without 
any  kind  of  remedy  whatsoever.  It  is  this  monstrous  and 
abhorrent  doctrine  which  must  startle  every  man  in  the 
nation,  that  you  ought  promptly  to  discountenance  and 
condemn.  It  is  this  doctrine,  the  basis  and  essential  prin- 
ciple of  the  bill,  that  we  call  upon  you  to  reject.  Suppose, 
sir,  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  instead  of  selling  the  public 
territory,  had  corruptly  sold  the  good  people  of  Georgia 
and  all  their  posterity  into  slavery,  the  consequences  would 
have  been  the  same,  the  judges  would  have  decreed  that  an 
estate  did  vest  in  the  original  grantee,  notwithstanding  the 
corruption,  which  could  not  be  divested  by  any  subsequent 
Legislature.  But,  sir,  let  me  state  to  you  a  case,  exposing 
at  once  the  flagrant  enormity  of  the  principle  :  it  is  a  case 
as  perfectly  parallel  as  the  human  mind  can  conceive. 
Suppose,  sir,  that  the  twelfth  Congress  should  corruptly 
sell  the  good  people  of  the  United  States  to  England,  and 
England  should  instantly  sell  to  France — France  would 
come  upon  the  thirteenth  Congress  and  demand  possession  ; 
the  virtuous  thirteenth  Congress  would  say,  No !  we  will 
not  give  you  possession ;  the  twelfth  Congress  was  bribed 
and  corrupted  to  sell  the  good  people  of  the  United  States  ; 
fraud  vitiates  every  grant,  and  therefore  you  can  have  no 
right  to  demand  possession.  Ah !  but,  says  France,  I  am 
an  innocent  purchaser,  I  purchased  without  knowledge  of 
the  fraud ;  and  it  is  a  maxim  of  the  common  law  of  Eng- 
land that  third  purchasers  are  not  to  be  affected  by  the 
fraud  of  the  original  parties.  Thus,  sir,  according  to  the 
Judges,  would  the  good  people  of  the  United  States  be  sold 
like  a  flock  of  sheep  by  the  corruption  of  their  representa- 
tives, leaving  them,  the  people,  without  any  kind  of  remedy 
whatsoever. 

If,  Mr.  Speaker,  the  arch  fiend  had,  in  the  bitterness  of 
his  hatred  to  mankind,  resolved  the  destruction  of  republi- 
can government  on  earth,  he  would  have  issued  a  decree 
like  that  of  the  judges;  he  would  have  said,  in  the  spirit 


gg  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 

and  language  of  this  bill,  let  the  claimants  under  the  cor- 
rupters  of  the  representatives  of  the  people  be  rewarded. 
In  a  nation  of  enlightened  men,  whose  governments  have 
their  origin  in  and  exist  only  by  the  will  of  the  people,  that 
will  is  contemned  and  held  for  nothing.  Why,  it  may  be 
asked,  do  the  judges  who  passed  this  decision  live  and  live 
unpunished  ;  The  answer  is  found  in  the  mildness  and 
moderation  of  our  government.  I  thank  God  it  is  so.  If, 
under  a  despotism,  the  throne  of  the  monarch  had  been 
thus  assailed,  the  judges  would  have  perished.  Here  the 
foundations  of  the  Republic  are  shaken,  and  the  judges 
sleep  in  tranquillity  at  home.  Take  my  word  for  it,  Mr. 
Speaker — I  beseech  you  to  remember  what  I  say — no  party 
in  this  country,  however  deeply  seated  in  power,  can  long 
survive  the  adoption  of  this  measure.  I  remember  a  gen- 
tleman, once  a  member  of  this  House  ;  he  had  his  seat  on 
the  opposite  side  of  it ;  he  was  a  man  of  the  most  vigorous 
intellect  I  ever  knew;  he  had  deeply  studied  human  nature ; 
to  be  sure  his  conduct  was  not  always  regulated  by  his 
knowledge  of  it ;  lie  was  often  imprudent  and  not  imfre- 
quently  extravagant.  Whenever  this  question  was  turned 
up,  however,  he  used  to  address  his  political  friends,  "  Gen- 
tlemen, I  beseech  you  to  withhold  your  countenance  from 
this  measure.  It  is  founded  in  corruption,  the  people  know 
it;  they  are  not  yet  ripe  for  the  supply  of  men  who  will 
support  such  measures.  If  you  want  to  mount  into  power, 
if  you  wish  to  conciliate  the  affection  of  this  people,  you 
must  assume  a  virtue  if  you  have  it  not." 

Mr.  Troup.said  he  wished  it  understood  that  in  moving 
the  rejection  of  the  bill,  it  was  not  his  design  to  enter  at 
all  into  the  merits  of  the  Yazoo  claim.  The  few  observa- 
tions he  had  submitted,  were  directed  to  the  principle  con- 
tained m  the  bill.  If,  however,  the  House  should  in  its 
discretion  determine  to  sustain  that  principle,  and  to  enter 
into  the  merits  of  the  question  at  large,  he  should,  notwith- 
standing it  had  been  so  often  discussed  and  was  so  well 
understood  by  every  man  in  the  nation,  have  no  objection 
to  meet  it.  He  would  then  undertake  to  show  to  the  House, 
1st,  That  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  had  no  constitutional 
power  to  sell  the  public  domain.  2d,  That  if  it  had,  it 
could  not  sell  fraudulently  and  corruptly.  :5d,  That  these 
claimants  had  notice  of  the  fraud,  and,  having  notice,  are, 
according  to  the  maxim  of  the  judges  themselves,  without 
claim  or  shadow  of  claim. 

The  bill  was  not  rejected,  but  was  referred  to  the  Coin- 


CHAP.  IV.]     ANOTHER  SPEECH  ON  THE  YAZOO  FRAUD.  69 

mittee  on  Public  Lands,  which  afterwards  made  a  report 
recommending  a  modification  of  the  terms  of  the  bill,  and 
proposing  amendments  accordingly.  On  the  8th  of  March, 
1814,  the  Senate  bill  again  coming  up  before  the  House, 
Col.  Troup  said : 

He  rose  with  great  reluctance  to  move  to  reject  the  bill. 
There  were  only  two  considerations  which  could  induce 
him  to  depart  from  the  respect  due  to  another  branch  of 
the  Legislature  ;  either  that  a  measure  emanating  from  it 
was  unconstitutional  or  corrupt.  It  was  because  this  meas- 
ure had  its  origin  in  corruption  he  moved  to  reject  the  bill. 
When  I  say,  sir,  that  this  measure  has  its  origin  in  corrup- 
tion, I  do  not  mean  to  be  understood  as  charging  corruption 
on  the  Senate — all  I  mean  to  be  understood  as  saying,  is, 
that  this  measure  flows  from  corruption,  as  a  stream  flows 
from  its  source  ;  it  flows  from  the  corrupt  act  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  Georgia  of  1795.  The  bill  proposes  to  give  nve 
millions  of  dollars  to  the  Yazoo  claimants.  The  Yazoo 
Legislature  sold  for  five  hundred  thousand  dollars — Georgia 
sold  to  the  United  States  for  one  million  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars  only,  and  you  now  propose  to  give 
five  millions  to  the  claimants  to  compromise  their  claim. 
How  will  we  be  able  to  account  for  this  ?  How  will  pos- 
terity be  able  to  account  for  it  ?  Posterity  will  say  that 
these  claimants,  like  the  gods  of  Milton,  carried  the  moun- 
tains in  their  hands,  and  wielding  the  fifty  millions  of  acres 
under  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  have  carried 
everything  before  them. 

You  know  the  history  of  this  transaction,  sir.  On  the 
7th  of  January,  1795,  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  sold  to 
certain  individuals,  called  the  original  grantees,  fifty  mil- 
lions of  acres  of  land  for  five  hundred  thousand  dollars. 
Every  member  who  voted  for  the  law,  except  one,  whose 
name  does  not  appear,  was  bribed  and  corrupted,  that  is  to 
say,  was  interested  in,  and  the  party  to  the  purchase.  On 
the  13th  of  February,  1796,  the  subsequent  Legislature  de- 
clared the  corrupt  act  null  and  void ;  ordered  the  record  to 
be  burnt,  and  authorized  the  grantees  to  withdraw  the  pur- 
chase money.  The  convention  of  the  whole  people  soon 
after  confirmed  the  rescinding  act.  On  the  same  day,  that 
is  to  say,  on  the  13th  of  February,  1796,  the  Yazoo  claim- 
ants purchased  from  the  original  grantees.  The  claimants 
say  that  they  are  innocent  purchasers,  without  notice  of  the 
corruption — that  an  estate  vested  notwithstanding  the  cor- 


70  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 

ruption,  and  that  they  have  a  good  title  against  you.  It 
may  be  well  to  observe  here  that  the  claimants  have  con- 
stantly shifted  their  ground.  At  first  they  insisted  that  the 
Yazoo  act  of  1795  was  a  fair  and  honest  act  of  legislation. 
As  soon,  however,  as  the  report  of  your  Commissioners, 
which  exhibited  the  fraud  in  its  nakedness,  drove  them 
from  this  ground,  they  insisted  on  the  innocency  of  their 
purchase.  Driven  from  this  ground,  they  throw  themselves 
on  your  mercy.  Do  not  believe,  sir,  that  the  corruption  in 
which  this  transaction  was  engendered,  was  a  corruption  of 
any  ordinary  character ;  it  was  a  corruption  without  ex- 
ample in  history ;  may  it  never  find  a  parallel  !  Not 
merely  were  the  corrupted  corrupted  by  the  corrupters — 
the  corrupters  cheated  the  corrupted — the  corrupters  cheat- 
ed one  another,  and  the  corrupters,  as  they  say,  cheated 
these  claimants.  The  members  of  the  Legislature  were 
bribed  with  land  and  money  ;  in  some  instances  the  mem- 
ber gave  his  vote,  and  the  corrupter  withheld  the  bribe  ; 
the  member  went  home — he  had  lost  his  character — he  had 
lost  his  brib.e,  and  he  died  broken-hearted  in  the  bosom  of 
his  family.  "When  the  rescinding  Legislature,  in  a  spirit  of 
liberality  which  became  them,  decreed  that  the  original 
grantees  might  withdraw  the  purchase  money,  on  produ- 
cing certain  evidence  of  their  having  made  the  deposite — 
such  a  scene  of  fraud,  iniquity  and  depravity  was  exhibited. 
that  the  Governor,  familiar  as  he  had  been  with  such  scenes- 
but  a  short  time  before,  blushed  and  shut  the  doors  of  the 
treasury  against  them.  Men  concerned  in  this  transaction, 
but  who  had  not  deposited  one  dollar,  by  perjury,  forgery, 
or  some  other  crime,  drew  thousands  from  the  treasury ; 
those  of  the  speculators  who  had  actually  paid  the  money, 
were  then  defrauded  by  their  brethren.  On  the  other  hand, 
some  of  the  original  grantees  allege  that  they  were  cheated 
by  these  claimants— that  the  claimants  gave  them  paper 
for  their  land,  which  paper  turned  out  good  for  nothing. 
Thus,  sir,  you  see  this  Yazoo  transaction  is  a  circle  of  fraud. 
It  no  doubt  had  a  beginning,  but  it  is  certainly  without  end, 
unless  you  consummate  it  by  this  measure. 

As  good  fortune  will  have  it,  Mr.  Speaker,  this  is  one  of 
the  plainest  cases  that  can  be  presented  to  the  understand- 
ing. The  claimants  either  have  a  claim,  or  they  have  not. 
If  they  have  a  claim,  you  may  compromise  a  claim ;  if 
they  have  no  claim,  you  cannot  compromise  no  claim.  If 
they  have  a  claim,  it  is  a  claim  to  fifty  millions  of  acres  of 
land,  and  you  ought  to  give  it  to  them,  and  say  no  more 
about  it.  Could  you  entertain  a  thought  for  one  moment 


CHAP.  IV.]      ANOTHER  SPEECH  ON  THE  YAZOO  FRAUD.  71 

to  avail  yourself  of  your  power  to  do  wrong  and  injustice 
to  these  impotent  individuals?  Surely  no  man  will  have 
the  hardihood  to  say  that  the  magnitude  of  the  claim  ought 
to  weigh  one  tittle  in  the  scale  of  justice.  The  claimants 
either  have  a  title  to  fifty  millions  of  acres,  or  they  have  not 
a  title  to  a  square  foot.  How  do  they  derive  the  title  ? 
From  the  original  grantees.  How  do  the  original  grantees 
derive  title  ?  From  the  Yazoo  Legislature  of  '95.  Their 
title,  therefore,  must  depend  on  the  validity  or  invalidity 
of  the  Yazoo  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Georgia — it  can 
depend  on  nothing  else.  If  the  Yazoo  act  was  a  good  and 
valid  act,  an  estate  vested  in  the  original  grantees ;  the 
grantees  passed  the  estate  to  these  claimants,  and  the 
claimants  have  a  good  title  against  you.  If  the  Yazoo  act 
was  a  null  and  void  act,  no  estate  vested  in  the  original 
grantees  ;  if  no  estate  vested  in  the  original  grantees,  they 
could  pass  none  to  these  claimants,  and  if  no  estate  passed 
to  these  claimants,  on  what  pretense  can  they  set  up  the 
title  against  you  ?  Are  the  Congress  of  the  United  States 
prepared  to  say  that  the  Yazoo  act,  notwithstanding  the 
corruption  of  the  representatives  of  the  people,  was  a  good 
and  valid  act  ?  That  it  divested  the  public  property  out  of 
the  people  and  vested  it  in  the  grantees  ?  Are  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  prepared  to  say,  that  the  representa- 
tives of  a  free  and  virtuous  people  may  fraudulently  and 
corruptly  betray  that  people,  and  barter  their  rights,  and 
that  the  people  are  without  remedy?  That  an  estate  did 
vest  by  the  Yazoo  act,  which  could  not  be  divested  by  any 
subsequent  act!  Sir,  it  is  impossible.  This  doctrine  is  too 
monstrous  to  be  entertained  by  a  moral  people,  who  love 
liberty — it  strikes  at  all  virtue,  at  all  morality — it  overturns 
Republican  governments.  You  can  not,  you  dare  not, 
sanctify  this  doctrine.  If  you  dare,  one  of  two  things  must 
happen  ;  the  people  are  ready  to  approve  it,  or  they  are 
not — if  they  are,  they  have  lost  their  virtue,  and  we  must 
seek  shelter  under  despotism  ;  if  they  are  not,  you  will  go 
out  and  other  men  will  come  in.  Not  t]je  gentlemen  on  the 
other  side  of  the  House — they  never  can  come  in — men 
will  come  in  who  will  discountenance  corruption,  cherish 
virtue,  and  preserve  the  principles  of  the  government  pure 
and  uncorrupted.  I  address  myself  to  the  Republican 
party :  let  them  remember  how  they  came  into  power. 
Ihe  Federalists  had  been  charged  with  monarchical  attach- 
ments ;  with  cherishing  corrupt  principles  of  government. 
The  people  believed  it.  They  said  the  government  was  not 
safe  in  such  hands — they  turned  them  out.  You  succeeded. 


72  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 

The  people  said  to  you— take  this  sacred  trust,  do  your 
duty  faithfully  ;  preserve  the  principles  ot  this  happy  gov- 
ernment pure  and  uncorrupted,  and  be  ready  to  hand  it 
over  to  vour  successors  whenever  you  shall  be  required, 
more  pure  and  uncorrupted  than  when  yon  received  it. 
Will  you  do  so  when  you  have  decreed  that  the  representa- 
tives of  the  people  may  corruptly  divest  the  estate  of  the 
people,  and  that  they  are  without  remedy  '.  let,  sir,  this 
you  must  do  the  moment  you  decide  to  compromise  this 
claim.  But  you  have  no  reason,  no  motive,  no  apology, 
for  thus  deciding.  I  will  take  away  from  every  unpreju- 
diced man  in  the  country  every  pretext,  every  apology  for 
compromising  this  claim.  I  insist  that  the  Yazoo  Legisla- 
ture had  no  constitutional  power  to  sell  the  land. 

1st.  I  contend  that  the  Legislature  had  no  constitutional 
power  to  sell. 

2nd.  That  if  they  had  constitutional  power  to  sell,  they 
could  not  sell  fraudulently  and  corruptly. 

3rd.  That  if,  notwithstanding  the  fraud  and  corruption. 
an  estate  djd  vest  in  the  original  grantees,  according  to  the 
decision  of  the  Supreme  Court,  these  claimants  naving 
notice  of  the  fraud,  are  parties  to  it,  and  without  title  in 
law  or  equity. 

There  is  no  power  given  in  the  Constitution  of  Georgia, 
and  without  an  express  grant  of  power  the  Legislature  can- 
not possess  it.  This  is  the  doctrine  distinctly,  clearly,  and 
unanimously  maintained  by  the  writers  on  public  law.  The 
reasons  on  which  it  is  founded  are  as  distinctly  given.  The 
people  are  seized,  collectively  and  individually,  of  the  pub- 
lic territory — it  cannot  be  taken  from  them  without  their 
consent — it  cannot  be  taken  from  them  without  their  ex- 
press consent — consent  shall  not  be  implied.  1st,  because 
the  power  to  sell  the  public  domain  is  not  a  power  inciden- 
tal or  necessary  to  the  power  of  legislation,  -ndly,  because 
it  is  too  important  a  power  to  be  derived  by  implication  or 
construction.  Xot  only  is  this  the  universal  doctrine  of  the 
publicists,  of  Grotius,  Puffendorf,  Vattel,  Burlamaqui,  and 
others,  but  it  is  the^ioctrine  to  which  all  our  political  insti- 
tutions have  conformed.  In  the  constitution  of  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  the  constitutions  of  the  States,  you  see  the 
doctrine  clearly  recognized.  In  the  constitution  of  the 
United  States  it  is  said,  "  Congress  shall  have  power  to  dis- 
pose^ of,  and  make  all  needful  rules  and  regulations  con- 
cerning the  public  property."  "Why  was  this  power 
expressly  granted  ?  Because  the  Convention  knew  that  if 
not  expressly  granted  it  could  not  be  derived  by  implica- 


CHAP.  IV.]     ANOTHER  SPEECH  ON  THE  YAZOO  FRAUD.  73 

tion  or  construction.  So,  in  the  State  constitutions,  the 
doctrine  is  recognized :  "  the  power  to  dispose  of  the  public 
domain  being  in  the  people,  cannot  be  taken  from  them 
without  their  consent."  I  know  it  may  be  said  that  there 
is  a  difference  between  the  United  States  and  State  con- 
stitutions, in  the  character  of  their  powers — that  in  the 
United  States  constitution  all  powers  not  delegated  are  re- 
served— that  in  the  State  constitutions  all  powers  are  del- 
egated but  those  which  are  reserved.  This  is  true,  but  by 
all  powers  is  meant  only  all  ordinary  powers,  all  powers 
that  are  essential  and  necessary  or  incidental  to  the  general 
power  of  legislation ;  extraordinary  powers,  powers  not  es- 
sential to  the  general  power  of  legislation,  are,  even  in  the 
States,  retained  by  the  people,  and  cannot  be  divested  out 
of  them  without  their  express  consent.  This  power  to  dis- 
pose of  the  public  domain  is  an  extraordinary  power ;  for, 
say  the  publicists,  one  and  all,  this  power  is  so  essentially  in 
the  people,  that  even  under  the  violent  governments  of 
Europe,  the  despot  has  no  power  to  dispose  of  the  public 
domain  without  the  express  consent  of  the  people.  I  know, 
too,  it  will  be  said  that  the  State  Legislatures  have  in  some 
instances  disposed  of  the  public  property  without  an  ex- 
press grant  of  power  to  warrant  it.  I  answer  that  in  every 
such  instance  the  Legislature  was  guilty  of  usurpation,  and 
the  people  not  bound — that  if  the  people  pleased  to  yield  a 
tacit  acquiescence,  well  and  good — they  did  so  because 
their  attention  had  not  been  called  to  the  usurpation  by  a 
flagrant  and  palpable  corruption — but  will  you  believe  that 
if  in  any  such  instance  the  usurpation  had  been  coupled 
with  a  notorious  corruption  of  their  representatives,  they 
would  not  have  resisted — that  they  would  not  have  risen 
in  mass,  as  did  the  people  of  Georgia,  to  put  down  the  cor- 
ruption and  the  corrupted?  A  people  who  would  not, 
must  have  lost  their  virtue  and  been  ready  for  a  tyrant. 
I  say,  therefore,  the  Yazoo  Legislature  of  Georgia  had  no 
power  to  sell  the  public  property. 

But  if  the  Legislature  had  constitutional  power  to  sell,  it 
could  not  sell  fraudulently  and  corruptly.  Do  you  ask 
proof  of  this? — fraud  and  corruption  vitiate  every  act, 
render  it  null  and  void  db  initio  ;  no  contract,  no  obliga- 
tion, can  grow  out  of  it.  The  powers  granted  by  the  people 
to  their  Legislatures,  are  granted  in  confidence  that  they 
will  be  fairly  and  honestly  exercised.  What  would  you 
think  of  the  declaration  of  a  constitution,  "the  poweis 
herein  granted  shall  be  honestly  exercised  "  ?  Would  you 
10 


~4  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  IV. 

not  consider  such  a  declaration  ridiculous,  and  ridiculous 
because  superfluous  ?  Is  not  the  implication  as  strong 
any  expression  could  be,  that  every  fraudulent  act  of  legis- 
lation is  merely  void?  Suppose  it  were  written  in  any 
constitution,  "  the  Legislature  shall  have  no  power  fraud- 
ulently and  corruptly  to  betray  the  people."  would  you 
not,  too,  consider  this  ridiculous,  and  ridiculous  because 
superfluous?  Suppose  it  were  written  in  any  constitution, 
"  the  Legislature  shall  have  power  fraudulently^  and  cor- 
ruptly to  sell  the  public  property,''  would  not  such  a  grant 
of  power  be  merely  void,  though  proceeding  from  the 
highest  human  authority,  the  people  thems*  And 

why  void?  Because  repugnant  to  the  laws  of  God  and 
nature.  Nay,  sir,  I  go  further :  .1  say  the  great  God  of 
Heaven  himself  could  confer  no  such  power — if  the  great 
God  of  Heaven  were  to  decree,  "the  Legislature  shall  have 
power  fraudulently  and  corruptly  to  sell  the  public  pro- 
perty," the  decree  would  be  merely  void,  e  incon- 
sistent with  His  holy  attributes.  And  yet.  sir,  the  Senate 
require  of  us  to  do  that  which  the  God  of  Heaven  himself 
cannot  do — legalize  fraud  and  corruption — they  require  us 
to  declare  that,  notwithstanding  the  fraud  and  corruption 
of  the  Georgia  Legislature,. an  estate  did  vest  in  the  origi- 
nal grantees,  which  it  wa-  competent  to  the  grantd 
transfer  to  the  claimants ;  that  the  claimants  have  a  title 
against  you,  and  that  to  relinquish  that  title  we  must  £ 
them  five  millions  of  dollars.  This  is  making  war  upon 
the  people  with  a  vengeance.  To  talk  of  the  rights  of  the 
people  after  this,  is  insult  and  mockery.  I  In;  why 
that  the  corrupt  act  of  the  Representative  is  not  binding  on 
the  people!  For  this  plain  reason,  the  corruption  of  the 
Representative  must  precede  the  corrupt  act ;  the  iroment 
he  has  betrayed  his  constituents,  all  ties  and  connection 
between  them  are  dissolved,  and  lie  is  no  more  capable  of 
binding  them  than  the  merest  stranger.  Any  other  doctrine 
makes  Republican  government  a  farce — makes  morality 
and  religion  idle^sound.  If  corruption  can  divest  the  estate 
of  the  people,  it  can  do  any  other  act — it  can  legalize 
murder,  robbery,  treason — it  can  give  universal  license  to 
crime.  I  say,  therefore,  that  if  the  Legislature  of  Georgia 
had  constitutional  power  to  sell,  it  could  not  sell  fraudu- 
lently and  corruptly.  The  Yazoo  act  was  merely  void,  and 
the  rescinding  act  which  declared  it  so,  was  only  form;  the 
people  were  in  possession,  continued  in  possession,  and 
were  not  divested  by  it. 

Srdly.  If,  notwithstanding  the  fraud  and  corruption,  an 


CHAP.  IV.]     ANOTHER  SPEECH  ON  THE  YAZOO  FRAUD.  75 

estate  did  vest  in  the  grantees,  yet,  the  claimants  having 
notice  of  the  fraud,  are,  according  to  the  decision  of  the 
Supreme  Court  itself,  guilty  purchasers,  without  claim  or 
shadow  of  claim.  I  say,  sir,  the  claimants  had  notice. 
Let  it  be  remembered,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  our  government 
differs  from  all  other  governments  in  this  singular  but 
valuable  characteristic — it  is  limited  by  written  constitu- 
tions. In  other  countries  it  is  said  the  acts  or  the  grants  of 
the  government  speak  for  themselves — nothing  shall  be 
admitted  to  contradict  them.  Not  so  in  our  country  ;  every 
act  or  grant  of  the  government  must  be  consistent  with  the 
written  constitution.  Every  man  is  presumed  to  carry  the 
constitution  in  his  head  or  in  his  pocket,  that  he  may  at 
all  times  be  ready  to  compare  the  acts  of  government  with 
the  constitution.  If  the  claimants  had  done  this,  if  they 
had  compared  the  Yazoo  act  with  the  constitution  of 
Georgia,  they  would  have  found  no  power  in  the  constitu- 
tion authorizing  the  Legislature  to  sell,  and  this  circum- 
stance alone  would  have  put  them  upon  their  guard — at 
least,  this  would  have  been  the  effect  on  all  rational  and 
prudent  men. 

But  there  was  cause  of  suspicion  on  the  very  face  of  the 
act  itself.  The  Legislature  sold  fifty  millions  of  acres  of  as 
fine  a  country  as  any  on  the  globe,  for  five  hundred  thou- 
sand dollars.  Would  not  prudent  men,  looking  at  this 
single  fact,  have  inquired  how  comes  this  ?  Would  not- 
prudent  men,  about  to  embark  in  a  speculation  so  enormous, 
have  thought  it  worth  their  Avhile  to  send  an  agent  from 
Boston  to  Georgia,  to  scrutinize  and  investigate  the  merits 
of  this  transaction  ?  But,  sir,  these  are  circumstances  to 
excite  suspicion  only.  The  people  of  Georgia  themselves 
gave  to  the  claimants  the  most  prompt,  direct  and  unex- 
ceptionable notice.  Remember  that  more  than  a  year 
elapsed  between  the  passage  of  the  Yazoo  act  and  the 
purchase  by  the  claimants.  The  events  which  followed 
the  passage  of  the  Yazoo  act  portended  a  revolution  in 
Georgia,  as  terrible  and  as  bloody  as  the  revolution  of 
Paris  or  of  La  Vendee.  If  the  claimants  had  lived  in  the 
farther  India,  if  they  had  lived  in  the  islands  of  the  Pacific 
Ocean,  they  Avould  have  received  notice  long  before  they 
purchased.  Scarce  had  the  Yazoo  act  passed  the  Legisla- 
ture, when  the  whole  country  was  in  a  ferment.  The  great 
body  of  the  people,  who,  unlike  their  Representatives,  re- 
mained uncorrupted  and  faithful  to  themselves,  were 
everywhere  in  motion  to  counteract  the  projects  of  the 
traitors.  Their  grand  juries  and  committees  everywhere 


76 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 


denounced  the  act  a  usurpation,  called  upon  the  country 
to  assert  its  rights,  and  to  put  down  the  corruption  and  the 
corrupted.  General  Jackson — sir,  I  cannot  think  of  Gen. 
Jackson  without  speaking  of  him  as  a  man  of  rare  patriot- 
ism and  integrity — a  man  who,  if  he  had  lived  in  the  days 
of  Rome's  greatness,  or,  rather,  of  Rome's  virtue,  would 
have  had  his  bust  in  the  Capitol — I  speak  of  him  thus,  be- 
cause his  memory  is  intimately  connected  with  this  trans- 
action; he  was  the  only  man!  ever  did  know  who  was  at 
all  times  ready  to  lay  down  his  life,  to  sacrifice  his  wife  and 
children  and  his  fortune,  to  his  country.  General  Jackson 
was  at  that  time  a  Senator  in  Congress  at  Philadelphia;  he 
was  called  by  the  people  of  Georgia,  publicly  called,  from 
his  seat  in  Congress  to  aid  in  rescinding  the  usurped  act — 
he  obeyed.  The  address  of  the  people  and  his  answer  were 
published  in  all  of  the  newspapers  of  the  day.  A  man  by 
the  name  of  Thomas,  one  of  the  corrupted  Senators,  was 
murdered  in  his  own  house,  that  he,  together  with  his  testi- 
mony, (for  he  bore  witness  to  the  corruption  and  threatened 
to  confess,)  might  be  consigned  to  oblivion.  By  some  it 
was  said  the  speculators  had  murdered  him,  by  others  that 
his  indignant  constituents  had  done  the  deed.  The  truth 
is  that  the  greatest  efforts  were  necessary  to  restrain  the 
people  from  acts  of  violence.  Now,  sir,  all  these  things 
were  done,  not  in  secret  to  deceive  the  innocent  purchasers 
of  New  England ;  they  were  done  publicly  and  in  the  face 
of  day ;  they  were  published  in  all  the  newspapers  of  the 
time,  from  Boston  to  Savannah  ;  and  yet  these  things  were 
to  the  innocent  purchasers  of  New  England  as  if  they  had 
never  been.  Yes,  sir,  if  you  believe  the  claimants,  they 
were  as  ignorant  of  them  as  the  people  of  Crim  Tartary. 
They  tell  you  they  never  read  newspapers.  The  mail 
running  weekly  between  Boston  and  Savannah — the  coast- 
ing trade  open — and  yet  the  claimants  are  innocent  pur- 
chasers ;  for  one  whole  year  they  heard  not  a  word  of  what 
was  passing  in  Georgia.  If  the  mails  had  been  stopped, 
if  the  coasting  trade  had  been  interrupted,  if  all  commu- 
nication had  been  cut  off,  this  plea  of  ignorance  might 
have  been  set  up.  In  the  then  state  of  intercourse  of  the 
civilized  world,  if  the  claimants  had  lived  in  Batavia,  they 
would  have  had  notice  long  before  they  purchased. 

But  there  is  other  evidence  of  notice  still  more  conclu- 
sive. On  the  17th  of  February,  1795,  that  is  to  say  six 
weeks  after  the  passage  of  the  Yazoo  act,  General  Wash- 
ington sent  to  Congress  a  public  message  to  the  following 
effect : 


CHAP.  IV.]     ANOTHER  SPEECH  ON  THE  YAZOO  FRAUD.  77 

"  I  have  received  'copies  of  two  Acts  of  the  Legislature 
'  of  Georgia,  one  passed  on  the  28th  of  December,  the  other 
'  on  the  7th  January  last,  for  appropriating  and  selling  the 
'  Indian  lands  within  the  territorial  limits  claimed  by  that 
'  State.  These  copies,  though  not  officially  certified,  have 
*  been  transmitted  to  me  in  such  a  manner  as  to  leave  no  room 
'  to  doubt  their  authenticity.  These  Acts  embrace  an  object 
'  of  such  magnitude,  and  in  their  consequences  may  so 
'  deeply  affect  the  peace  and  welfare  of  the  United  States, 
'  that  I  have  thought  it  necessary  now  to  lay  them  before 
'  Congress."' 

Here  then  was  notice  to  all  the  world,  notice  at  least 
that  something  was  wrong.  General  Washington,  from  the 
elevation  of  his  high  office,  standing  as  it  were  on  the  top 
of  Mount  Sinai,  with  an  angel  voice,  reaching  the  extremi- 
ties of  the  earth,  proclaimed,  beware !  A  more  distinct, 
audible,  universal  notice  could  not  have  been  given  to  all 
mankind.  The  claimants  heeded  no  more  the  warning  of 
General  Washington  than  they  did  the  barking  of  a  foist. 
Congress  referred  the  message  to  a  committee.  The  com- 
mittee reported  a  resolution  and  bill  authorizing  the 
Executive  to  extinguish  the  title  of  Georgia  to  the  country 
in  question.  With  the  Yazoo  act  before  them,  the  com- 
mittee did  not  deign  to  speak  of  the  sale  to  the  claimants, 
but,  treating  the  Yazoo  act  as  null  and  void,  proceeded  to 
treat  with  Georgia  for  the  extinguishment  of  her  title. 
The  claimants  say  they  never  heard  of  the  proclamation  of 
General  Washington.  They  never  read  newspapers. 

But  this  is  not  all.  The  claimants  stand  convicted  under 
their  own  hands  and  seals  ;  they  are  guilty  purchasers  on 
the  face  of  their  own  title  deed.  Not  only  did  their  title 
deed  not  contain  a  general  warranty  in  their  favor,  it  con- 
tained an  express  stipulation  that  in  no  event  would  they, 
the  claimants,  go  back  upon  the  grantees  from  whom  they 
purchased,  for  even  the  consideration  money,  on  account 
of  any  defect  in  their  title.  Under  their  own  hands  and 
seals  did  the  claimants  covenant  and  agree  that  the 
grantees  of  whom  they  bought  should  not  be  liable  to  re- 
tund  the  purchase  money,  if  their  title  turned  out  to  be 
defective.  Sir,  this  is  a  fact  so  extraordinary  and  incredi- 
ble, that  if  it  were  not  recorded  on  the  title  deed  itself,  I 
would  hesitate  to  declare  it.  It  is  without  example  in 
transactions  between  man  and  man.  Do  you  not  see,  but 
for  this,  the  claimants  would  have  resorted  to  the  original 
grantees  for  their  purchase  money,  with  interest  and  dam- 
ages ;  that  is  to  say,  they  would  have  resorted  to  the  same 


78  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 

remedy  as  .all  other  men  do  under  dike  circumstances  in 
every  country ;  they  would  have  recovered  their  purchase 
money  paid  for  a  consideration  which  had  failed,  for  a  title 
which  had  proved  defective,  with  interest  and  damages— 
they  would,  in  fact,  have  had  all  the  remedy  to  which  in- 
nocent purchasers,  without  notice,  are  entitled  by  the  laws 
of  any  country  ?  But  they  precluded  themselves  by  their 
own  act  and  deed ;  and,  because  they  have  done  so,  are  we 
bound  to  indemnify  them  '.  They  have  as  much  right  to 
apply  for  indemnity  to  the  Emperor  of  China.  But  there 
is  another  fact :  the  rescinding  Legislature  met  in  the  be- 
ginning of  January,  '96 — the  claimants  purchased  on  the 
13th  of  February,  ':»<; — on  the  opening  of  the  Legislature, 
the  preparatory  motion  was  made  to  rescind  the  usurped 
act;  the  claimants,  therefore,  had  six  weeks  l<>  inform 
themselves  of  what  was  doing  and  what  was  about  to  be 
done  in  the  Georgia  Legislature,  before  they  purchased. 
But  there  is  another  fact,  which  ought  to  be  conclusive  on 
this  point — a  gentleman  from  Massachusetts,  many  years  a 
member  of  this  House,  resident  in  the  neighborhood  of 
Boston,  uniformly  declared  they  had  notice ;  that  gentle- 
man, respectable  for  his  good  sense  and  integrity,  inti- 
mately acquainted  with  the  parties,  constantly  passing  in 
and  from  Boston,  perfectly  familiar  with  the  ciroum.-tances 
of  the  purchase,  constantly  affirmed  that  he  was  himself 
knowing  to  the  corruption  of  the  Georgia  Legislature  at 
the  date  of  the  purchase,  and  that  the  claimants  weiv 
knowing  to  it  as  himself.  Here,  then,  is  the  testimony  of 
a  disinterested  man.  You  oppose  to  it  the  declarations  of 
the  interested  claimants.  The  truth  is,  the  claimants  had 
knowledge  of  the  fraud.  Like  other  speculators,  they 
bought  to  sell  again  ;  all  they  wanted  was  the  wax  and  the 
parchment.  They  cared  not  a  straw  for  anything  else,  for 
fraud  and  corruption,  or  defect  of  title  ;  if  it  answered  the 
purpose  of  the  grantees,  it  would  answer  the  purpose  of 
the  claimants ;  the  claimants  took  the  title  deed  for  better, 
for  worse,  and  if  they  had  not  known  that  Congress  might 
be  teased  and  worried  out  of  anything,  they  never  would 
have  had  the  effrontery  to  set  up  a  claim  against  you. 

But,  it  is  said  the  commissioners  reported  in  favor  <>f  u 
compromise.  What  does  this  amount  to  ?  Xo  more  than 
a  report^of  a  committee  of  the  House,  which  you  respect 
only  as  its  merits  entitle  it  to  respect.  The  commissioners 
investigated  the  claims;  laid  before  you  in  all  its  naked- 
ness the  fraud  and  corruption,  from  beginning  to  end,  and 
came  to  the  conclusion  which  no  man  of  common  sense 


CHAP.  IV.]      ANOTHER  SPEECH  ON  THE  YAZOO  FRAUD.  79 

could  avoid,  that  the '  claimants  had  no  title  whatsoever. 
Here,  sir,  the  commissioners  ought  to  have  stopped  ;  but, 
strange  to  say,  they  suggested  to  Congress  the  expediency 
of  a  compromise.  What !  you  ask,  is  it  possible  that  such 
men  as  Mr.  Madison,  Mr.  Gallatin  and  Mr.  Lincoln,  should 
have  followed  up  such  a  conclusion  by  such  a  suggestion  ? 
'No  title,  and  yet  recommend  the  compromise  of  a  title  ! 
Never  were  two  propositions  more  inconsistent.  You  will 
say  there  must  have  been  some  reason  for  this.  I  will  tell 
you  the  reason :  it  was  the  same  reason  that  operated  on  the 
10th  Congress  to  surrender  the  embargo — the  clamor  of  a 
formidable  party.  The  commissioners  were  surrounded  by 
a  host  of  claimants,  as  we  are  now ;  they  found  them  a 
troublesome  set,  growing  every  day  stronger  and  stronger. 
They  yielded — they  said,  though  they  have  no  title,  yet 
you  had  better  give  them  money  and  send  them  about  their 
business.  This  is  all  that  can  be  said  now. 

But,  it  has  been  alleged  that  the  United  States  have  en- 
gaged to  compromise.  Not  so.  The  United  States  are  as 
free  to  compromise,  or  not  to  compromise,  as  if  nothing 
had  been  said  or  done  on  the  subject.  It  is  said  that  the 
United  States  are  bound  to  compromise,  because  five  mil- 
lions were  set  apart  by  the  articles  of  agreement  and 
cession,  for  the  indemnification  of  these  and  other  claims. 
True  !  But  on  condition  only,  that  Congress  should,  upon 
an  investigation  of  the  claims,  believe  that  in  right  and 
justice  they  ought  to  be  compensated.  The  history  of  this 
part  of  the  business  is  simply  this :  When  the  commission- 
ers of  the  United  States  and  of  Georgia  were  negotiating 
the  terms  of  purchase  of  the  Mississippi  Territory,  the 
claimants  got  about  them  and  harrassed  them  with  inces- 
sant importunity.  The  commissioners  of  the  United  States 
said  to  the  commissioners  on  the  part  of  Georgia,  You  see 
how  we  are  embarrassed  by  these  claimants  ;  will  it  not 
be  better  to  quiet  them,  by  making  a  reservation  in  their 
favor?  Never!  indignantly  answered  the  Georgia  com- 
missioners ;  we  will  never  consent  to  compromise  the 
infamous  corruption.  But,  said  the  commissioners  of  the 
United  States,  will  you  not  agree  to  make  a  conditional 
reservation,  leaving  it  to  the  United  States  to  make  them 
compensation,  or  not,  upon  an  investigation  of  the  merits 
of  their  claim  ?  To  this  the  commissioners  of  Georgia 
could  have  no  objection;  it  was  a  matter  for  the  United 
States.  They  did  object,  however,  to  give  any  pledge 
whatsoever  to  compromise  the  claim.  Nay,  more  ;  they 
insisted  that  if  Congress  did  not  within  a  year  set  apart  the 


gO  fLIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUT.  [CHAP.  IV. 

five  'millions  of  acres,  it  should  never  be  in  the  power  of 
Congress  to  compensate  them  at  all,  under  any  circum- 
stances. The  commissioners  on  the  part  of  Georgia  said  to 
the  commissioners  of  the  United  States :  If  the  United 
States  choose,  at  any  time,  to  compromise  this  corruption, 
we  cannot  help  it ;  but  we  will  never  give  our  sanction  or 
countenance  to  it,  because  we  believe  the  claim  unfounded  in 
right,  justice  or  morality  ;  if  you,  upon  investigation,  think 
otherwise,  here  are  the  five  millions^of  acres  set  apart,  out 
of  which  you  may  compensate  ;  if  you  can,  even  in  foro 
conscientice,  consent  to  compromise  this  corruption,  be  the 
shame  and  scandal  of  it  upon  you.  The  United  States  did, 
accordingly,  within  one  year  set  apart  the  five  millions  of 
acres  to  compensate  this  and  other  claims,  but  upon  the 
same  conditions  and  in  the  same  words  as  the  articles  of 
agreement  and  cession ;  that  is  to  say,  upon  condition  that 
the  United  States,  upon  an  investigation  of  the  merits  of 
the  claims,  should  determine  they  were  founded  in  right 
and  justice.  The  question  is  now,  as  it  has  always  been, 
are  the  claims  founded  in  right  and  justice? 

But  to  remove  every  impression  that  the  United  States 
are  pledged  in  the  remotest  degree,  I  refer  you  to  Mr. 
Gallatin  himself,  and  to  the  report  of  a  committee  of  the 
House,  at  the  last  session.  Mr.  Gallatin,  in  his  letter  ad- 
dressed to  Mr.  Dana,  the  chairman  of  the  Yazoo  Committee, 
dated  9th  January,  1805,  says,  (speaking  of  the  object  of 
the  reservation  of  the  five  millions,)  "  to  leave  it  in  their 
'  power  to  compromise  with  that  description  of  claimants, 
'  by  allowing  so  much  of  the  surplus  of  live  millions  of 
'  acres  as  they  might  think  proper,  without,  at  the  same 
'  time,  pledging  Government  to  enter  into  a  compromise, 
'  if,  upon  a  lull  view  of  all  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  a 
'  different  course  was  thought  more  eligible."  Thus  you 
see,  according  to  Mr.  Gallatin,  the  United  States  are  at 
perfect  liberty  to  compromise,  or  not,  at  their  discretion,  as 
if  no  articles  of  agreement  and  cession  had  ever  been  en- 
tered into ;  as  if  no  law  had  ever  been  passed  setting  apart 
the  five  millions  of  acres.  Your  committee  appointed  on 
this  subject  at  the  last  session  of  the  last  Congress,  say  the 
same  thing.  Their  language  is,  "  Congress  "is  not  bound 
'  to  compromise,  if,  upon  an  investigation  of  the  merits  of 
'  the  claims,  they  shall  be  found  unsupported  by  right  and 
\  justice."  The  assertion, "[therefore,  that  the  Government 
is  pledged,  is  a  mere  pretext,  as  is  every  other  reason  as- 
signed for  the  compromise. 

But  it  is  contended  that  the  Supreme  Court  have  decided 


CHAP.  IV.]  ANOTHER  SPEECH  ON  THE  YAZOO  FRAUD.  81 

in  favor  of  the  claimants  and  against  the  United  States ; 
that  it  is  better  to  give  up  a  part  than  to  lose  the  whole. 
Sir,  there  is  no  danger  of  our  losing  the  whole  or  a  part,  if 
we  will  do  our  duty  to  ourselves  and  to  the  country.  The 
Supreme  Court  cannot  decide  the  rights  of  the  United 
States  in  a  case  to  which  the  United  States  not  only  were 
not  a  party,  but  to  which  they  cannot,  by  any  constitution- 
al possibility,  be  a  party  without  their  consent.  The  case 
of  Fletcher  and  Peck  was  a  decision  of  a  feigned  issue, 
made  up  between  two  speculators,  to  decide  certain  points, 
in  the  decision  of  which  they  were  interested.  Will  any 
man,  in  his  senses,  say  that  the  right  of  the  United  States 
to  the  public  property  could  be  aifected  by  such  decision  ? 
This  doctrine  is  almost  as  shocking  as  the  other  doctrine  set 
up  in  support  of  the  compromise — the  representatives  of 
the  people  may  betray  the  people,  and  the  people  are  with- 
out remedy.  I  trust,  sir,  that  neither  the  one  nor  the  other 
will  be  countenanced  by  you  ;  but  that  you  will,  without 
hesitation,  reject  the  bill.  Whenever  it  is  conceded  that  it 
is  competent  to  the  Supreme  Court,  in  a  case  between  A 
and  B,  to  take  from  the  United  States  fifty  millions  of  acres 
of  land,  it  will  be  time  for  the  Government  to  make  a  vol- 
untary surrender  of  the  public  property  to  whosoever  will 
have  it.  The  public  property  would  be  nothing  but  an 
expense,  an  incumbrance,  which  it  would  be  profitable  to 
shake  off  with  as  little  delay  as  possible.  No,  sir;  the 
Government  is  the  guardian,  the  trustee,  of  the  public  pro- 
perty. Like  all  governments,  they  must  of  necessity 
determine  their  own  rights  of  property  ;  and  if  they  remain 
faithful  to  those  rights,  all  the  decisions  of  all  the  judicial 
tribunals  under  Heaven  cannot  deprive  you  of  a  square 
acre  of  the  public  land.  But,  sir,  I  am  tired  and  disgusted 
with  this  subject.  I  hope  the  bill  will  be  rejected. 

The  bill  was  not  rejected.  It  had  previously  passed  the 
Senate,  by  a  vote  of  twenty-four  to  eight — the  two  Senators 
from  Georgia,  Messrs.  Bibb  and  Tait,  having  voted  against 
it — and  on  the  26th  March,  1814,  after  several  slight  amend- 
ments, it  passed  the  House,  by  a  vote  of  eighty-four  to 
seventy-six — the  Representatives  from  Georgia,  Messrs. 
William  Barnett,  Alfred  Cuthbert,  John  Forsyth,  Boiling 
Hall,  Thomas  Telfair  and  George  M.  Troup,  voting  against 
it.  The  act  was  approved  by  the  President  on  the  31st  of 
the  same  month. 
11 


v->  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IV. 

These  votes  show  the  unanimity  of  the  people  of  Georgia 
against  a  compromise  of  these  claims.  They,  as  well  as 
their  Representatives,  believed  that  the  honor  of  the  coun- 
try required  that  the  claims  should  not  be  acknowledged 
or  compromised.  The  case  was  a  novel  one  ;  but  it  is  be- 
lieved that  if  ever  a  great  public  exigency  demanded  a 
refusal  of  any  sort  of  claims,  or  pretended  claims,  this  was 
it.  The  evidence  contained  in  the  previous  portion  of  this 
chapter,  appears  conclusive  on  this  point.  Nevertheless, 
in  addition  to  the  report  of  the  United  States  Commission- 
ers, Messrs.  Madison,  Gallatin  and  Lincoln,  stating  their 
belief  "  that  the  interest  of  the  United  States,  the  tran- 
quillity of  those  who  may  hereafter  inhabit  the  (Mississippi) 
Territory,  and  various  equitable  considerations  which  may 
be  urged  in  favor  of  the  present  claimants,  render  it  expe- 
dient to  enter  into  a  compromise  on  reasonable  terms  "  ; 
two  several  committees  of  the  House  had  reported  to  the 
same  eifect,  from  the  last  of  which  (15th  March,  1-S14,)  we 
make  the  following  extract  : 


^  committee  have  had  the  subject  of  the  said  (Senate) 
bill  under  their  consideration,  and  are  of  opinion  that  it  is 
expedient  for  the  government  of  the  Tinted  States  to  enter 
into  a  compromise  with  the  persons  claiming  lands  in  the 
Mississippi  Territory,  under  and  by  virtue  of  the  act  of  the 
Legislature  of  Georgia,  of  the  7th  January,  17!C>.  Tin- 
reasons  far  this  opinion  do  not  rest  on  tJie  strict  legality 
of  the  title  of  these  claimants  t<>  the  lands  in  question  — 
though  the  committee  cannot  forbear  remarking  that  that 
title  appears  to  have  all  the  sanction  which  can\>c  derived 
from  a  solemn  decision  of  the  highest  judicial  tribunal 
known  to  our  laws  —  they  are  grounded  on  considerations 
connected  with  the  permanent  interests  of  the  United 
States,  as  they  relate  to  the  Mississippi  Territory  ;  with  the 
quiet  and  speedy  settlement  of  that  Territory  ;  with  the 
more  easy  extinguishment  of  the  Indian  title  to  the  lands 
contained  in  it  ;  with  the  security  against  all  future  Indian 
wars  in  that  quarter,  which  the  settlement  of  the  Territory 
must  afford  ;  with  the  extensive  navigation  connecting 
parts  of  the  Western  States  with  the  Ocean,  which  must 
be  opened  when  the  population  of  the  Territory  shall  be 
adequate  to  such  an  object,  and  with  the  strength  and 


CHAP.  IV.]      REPORT  OP  COMMITTEE  OP  CONGRESS.  83 

safety  which  such  a  population  must  confer  on  the  Louisi- 
ana portion.  It  may,  in  addition,  be  remarked  that  there 
are  equitable  considerations  connected  with  the  present 
claims,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  the  committee,  strongly 
recommend  them  to  the  favor  of  Congress.  Although  the 
original  act  of  the  State  of  Georgia  might  have  been  pro- 
cured by  fraudulent  and  corrupt  means,  it  satisfactorily 
appears  to  the  committee,  as  far  as  their  inquiries  have 
been  extended,  that  the  present  claimants,  or  those  under 
whom  they  hold,  were  bona  fide  purchasers  of  the  imme- 
diate grantees  of  Georgia,  without  notice  of  any  fraud  or 
corruption  in  the  original  grant. 

The  part  of  the  above  extract  which  we  have  italicized, 
shows  that  the  adjustment  was  recommended  more  on 
the  idea  of  a  compromise,  than  on  any  view  of  the  strict 
rights  of  the  claimants.  It  was,  perhaps,  well  for  the  peace 
of  the  country  that  the  controversy  had  been  transferred 
from  Georgia  to  "Washington  City,  and  that  the  United 
States,  in  a  moment  of  generosity,  could  not,  and  pretended 
not  to,  exhibit  that  generosity  at  the  expense  of  Georgia 
more  than  of  any  other  of  the  States.  A  people  that  had 
destroyed  the  record  evidence  of  their  betrayal,  would 
hardly  have  made  provision  for  claimants,  the  l)0iia  fides  of 
whose  titles  was,  at  least,  questionable,  and  the  assertion 
of  which  title  caused  patriotic  Georgians  to  recoil  with 
horror  at  the  name  of  a  transaction  which  threatened  to 
undermine  representative  government.  Georgia  had  not 
been  heard  before  any  judicial  tribunal ;  she  could  never 
have  been  made  a  party  there  without  a  sacrifice  of  her 
dignity ;  but  there  was  no  time  when  she  could  not,  with 
safety  to  her  honor,  trust  her  cause  in  the  hands  of  her 
faithful  Representatives,  foremost  among  whom  was 
George  M.  Troup. 

The  bill,-"  as  it  finally  passed,  provided  for  settling  the 
claims,  under  the  provisions  and  restrictions  therein  men- 
tioned, in  the  following  proportions  : 

*  The  reader  is  referred,  for  further  information  on  the  subject  of  this  bill  and  the 
acts  amendatory  thereof,  to  the  United  States  Statutes  at  Large,  Vol.  3,  pp.  116, 117, 118, 
119,  120,  192,  193,  235,  236,  294,  295.— El>. 


84:                            LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  IV. 

To  the  persons  claiming  in  the  name  or  under  the  Upper 

Mississippi  Company,  $    350,000 

Tennessee  Company,  600,000 

Georgia  Mississippi  Company,  1,o.">0,000 

Georgia  Company,  0,000 

Citizens'  Rights,  250,000 

Making  an  aggregate  of  -     $5,000,000 


CHAP  V.]  RE-ELECTION  TO  CONGRESS.  85 


CHAPTER  V. 

Re-Election  to  Congress. — State  of  our  Foreign  Relations. — 
Preparations  for  War. —  Colonel  Troup's  Course. — Bank  of 
the  United  /States,  &c. 

IN  October,  1808,  Colonel  Troup  was  re-elected  to  Con- 
gress, and  on  the  22d  day  of  May,  1809,  took  his  seat  in  the 
House  of  Representatives  as  a  member  of  the  eleventh 
Congress.  His  colleagues,  as  in  the  previous  Congress, 
were  "William  W.  Bibb,  Dennis  Smelt  and  Howell  Cobb. 

Mr.  Madison  had  been  inaugurated  President  of  the 
United  States.  In  his  opening  message  at  the  special  ses- 
sion then  begun,  the  President  said:  "  On  this  first  occasion 
of  meeting  you,  it  affords  me  much  satisfaction  to  be  able 
to  communicate  the  commencement  of  a  favorable  change 
in  our  foreign  relations,  the  critical  state  of  which  induced 
a  session  of  Congress  at  this  early  period." 

On  the  first  of  March,  1809,  the  retiring  President,  Mr. 
Jefferson,  had  approved  an  Act  "to  interdict  the  commer- 
cial intercourse  between  the  United  States  and  Great 
Britain  and  France,  and  their  dependencies,  and  for  other 
purposes,"  by  which  commerce  with  those  nations  was 
closed,  and  the  entrance  of  the  harbors  and  waters  of  the 
United  States  interdicted  to  all  public  vessels  belonging  to 
those  nations,  or  private  vessels  sailing  under  the  flag  of 
either,  except  vessels  forced  in  by  distress  or  charged  with 
dispatches  from  the  government  to  which  they  belonged, 
&c. ;  but  with  authority  to  the  President,  "  in  case  either 
France  or  Great  Britain  shall  so  revoke  or  modify  her 
edicts  as  that  they  shall  cease  to  violate  the  neutral 
commerce  of  the  United  States,  to  declare  the  same  by 
proclamation ;  after  which,  the  trade  of  the  United  States, 
suspended  by  this  act,  and  by  the  act  laying  an  embargo  on 
all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the  United 
States,  and  the  several  acts  supplementary  thereto,  may  be 


86  LIFE  OP  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  V. 

renewed  with  the  nation  so  doing  "  ;  and,  by  the  last  section 
of  which,  it  was  provided  that  said  non-intercourse  act 
should  continue  in  force  until  the  end  of  the  then  next  ses- 
sion of  Congress,  when  the  embargo  acts  were,  by  the  same 
section,  to  expire. 

The  message  continued  to  say  :  uln  consequence  of  the 
provisions  of  the  act  interdicting  commercial  intercourse 
with  Great  Britain  and  France,  our  ministers  at  London 
and  Paris  were  without  delay  instructed  to  let  it  be  under- 
stood by  the  French  and  British  governments,  that  the 
authority  vested  in  the  executive  to  renew  commercial  in- 
tercourse with  their  respective  nations,  would  be  exercised 
in  the  case  specified  by  that  act.  Soon  after  these  instruc- 
tions were  dispatched,  it  was  found  that  the  British  govern- 
ment, anticipating,  from  early  proceedings  of  Congress  at 
the  last  session,  the  state  of  our  laws,  which  has  had  the 
effect  of  placing  the  two  belligerent  powers  on  a  footing 
of  equal  restrictions,  and  relying  on  the  conciliatory  <li-;]>o- 
sition  of  the  United  States,  had  transmitted  to  their  legation 
here,  provisional  instructions,  not  only  to  oiler  satisfaction 
for  the  attack  on  the  frigate  Chesapeake,  and  to  make 
known  the  determination  of  his  Britannic  majesty  to  send 
an  envoy  extraordinary  with  powers  to  conclude  a  treaty  on 
all  the  points  between  the  two  countries,  but,  moreover,  to 
signify  his  willingness,  in  the  meantime,  to  withdraw  his 
orders  in  council,  in  the  persuasion  that  the  intercourse 
with  Great  Britain  would  be  renewed  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States.  These  steps  of  the  British  government  led 
to  the  correspondence  and  die  proclamation  now  laid  before 
you,  by  virtue  of  which  the  commerce  between  the  two 
countries  will  be  renewed  after  the  10th  day  of  June  next." 
The  sequel  shows  that  these  anticipations  were  not  to  bo 
realized. 

During  this  session,  Colonel  Troup,  although  not  a  fre- 
quent, was  an  occasional,  speaker;  but  there  is  nothing  in 
the  reports  of  his  speeches  which  makes  it  important  to 
transcribe  what  he  said. 

[1809.]  On  the  second  day  of  the  session  he  was  placed 
upon  the  committee  on  Elections ;  and,  on  the  2Gth  May, 
upon  the  committee  on  Foreign  Relations.  Congress  ad- 
journed on  the  28th  day  of  June,  the  most  important  act 
of  the  session  being  "  An  Act  to  amend  and  continue  in 


CHAP.  V.]          STATE  OF  OUR  FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  87 

force  certain  parts  of  the  Act,  entitled  '  An  Act  to  inter- 
dict the  commercial  intercourse  between  the  United  States 
and  Great  Britain  and  France,  and  their  dependencies,  and 
for  other  purposes ' ;  "  of  which  it  is  only  necessary  to  say 
that  it  modified  the  non-intercourse  act  of  1st  March,  in 
conformity  with  what  seemed  to  be  a  returning  sense  of 
justice  on  the  part  of  Great  Britain,  and  with  what  was 
hoped  from  that  country  and  France  in  regard  to  their 
previous  policy  towards  the  United  States. 

The  act  was  approved  by  the  President  on  28th  June. 
On  the  passage  of  the  act,  Colonel  Troup  was  not  present, 
and  therefore  gave  no  vote. 

[1809.]     Congress  assembled  again  on  27th  November. 

Colonel  Troup  was  re-appointed  on  the  committee  on 
Elections,  and  was  also  placed  upon  the  committee  on  Post 
Offices  and  Post  Roads. 

On  the  29th  of  November,  the  President  sent  in  his  an- 
nual message  to  the  two  Houses,  from  which  the  following 
extracts  are  made,  showing  the  change  which  had  come 
over  the  aspect  of  our  foreign  relations : 

"  At  the  period  of  our  last  meeting,  I  had  the  satisfaction 
of  communicating  an  adjustment  with  one  of  the  principal 
belligerent  nations,  highly  important  in  itself,  and  still 
more  so  as  presaging  a  more  extended  accommodation. 
It  is  with  deep  concern  I  am  now  to  inform  you  that  the 
favorable  prospect  has  been  overclouded  by  a  refusal  of  the 
British  Government  to  abide  by  the  act  of  its  Minister 
Plenipotentiary,  and  by  its  ensuing  policy  towards  the 
United  States,  as  seen  through  the  communications  of  the 
Minister  sent  to  replace  him.  "Whatever  pleas  may  be 
urged  for  a  disavowal  of  engagements  formed  by  diplo- 
matic functionaries  in  cases  where  by  the  terms  of  the 
engagements  a  mutual  ratification  is  reserved,  or  where 
notice  at  the  time  may  have  been  given  of  a  departure  from 
instructions,  or  in  extraordinary  cases  essentially  violating 
the  principles  of  equity,  a  disavowal  could  not  have  been 
apprehended  in  a  case  where  no  such  notice  or  violation 
existed,  where  no  such  ratification  was  reserved,  and  more 
especially  where,  as  is  now  in  proof,  an  engagement,  to  be 
executed  without  any  such  ratification,  was  contemplated 


gg  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  V. 

by  the  instructions  given,  and  where  it  had,  with  good 
faith,  been  carried  into  immediate  execution  on  the  part  of 
the  United  States.  These  considerations  not  having  re- 
strained the  British  government  from  disavowing  the  en- 
ga^ement  by  virtue  of  which  its  orders  in  council  were  to 
be°revoked,  and  the  event  authorizing  the  renewal  of  com- 
mercial intercourse  having  thus  not  taken  place,  it  neces- 
sarily became  a  question  of  equal  urgency  and  importance, 
whether  the  act  prohibiting  that  intercourse  was  not  to  be 
considered  as  remaining  in  legal  force.  This  question 
being,  after  due  deliberation,  determined  in  the  affirma- 
tive, a  proclamation  to  that  eifect  was  issued.  It  could  not 
but  happen,  however,  that  a  return  to  this  state  of  things, 
from  that  which  had  followed  an  execution  of  the  arrange- 
ment by  the  United  States,  would  involve  difficulties. 
With  a  view  to  diminish  these  as  much  as  possible,  the  in- 
structions from  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  now  laid 
before  you,  were  transmitted  to  the  collectors  of  the  several 
ports.  If,  in  permitting  British  vessels  to  depart  without 
giving  bonds  not  to  proceed  to  their  own  ports,  it  should 
appear  that  the  tenor  of  legal  authority  has  not  been 
strictly  pursued,  it  is  to  be  ascribed  to  the  anxious  desire 
which  was  felt  that  no  individuals  should  be  injured  by  so 
unforeseen  an  occurrence ;  and  I  rely  on  the  regard  of 
Congress  for  the  equitable  interests  of  our  own  citizens,  to 
adopt  whatever  further  provisions  may  be  found  requisite 
for  a  general  remission  of  penalties  involuntarily  incurred. 
The  recall  of  the  disavowed  minister  *  having  been  follow- 
ed by  the  appointment  of  a  successor  f,  hopes  were  in- 
dulged that  the  new  mission  would  contribute  to  alleviate 
the  disappointment  which  had  been  produced,  and  to 
remove  the  causes  which  had  so  long  embarrassed  the 
good  understanding  of  the  two  nations.  It  could  not  be 
doubted  that  it  would  at  least  be  charged  with  conciliatory 
explanations  of  the  steps  which  had  been  taken,  and  with 
proposals  to  be  substituted  for  the  rejected  arrangement. 
.Reasonable  and  universal  as  this  expectation  was,  it  also 
has  not  been  fulfilled.  From  the  first  official  disclosures  of 
the  new  minister,  it  was  found  that  he  had  received  no 
authority  to  enter  into  explanations  relative  to  either  branch 
of  the  arrangement  disavowed,  nor  any  authority  to  sub- 
stitute proposals  as  to  that  branch  which  concerned  the 
British  orders  in  council;  and, finally,  that  his  proposals 
with  respect  to  the  other  branch,  the  attack  on  the  frigate 

*  Mr.  Erskine.— ED.  f  j£r.  Jackson.— ED. 


CHAP.  V.]  STATE  OF  OUR  FOREIGN  RELATIONS.  89 

Chesapeake,  were  founded  on  a  presumption  repeatedly 
declared  to  be  inadmissible  by  the  United  States,  that  the 
first  step  towards  adjustment  was  due  from  them;  the  pro- 
posals at  the  same  time  omitting  even  a  reference  to  the 
officer  *  answerable  for  the  murderous  aggression,  and  as- 
serting a  claim  not  less  contrary  to  the  British  laws  and 
British  practice,  than  to  the  principles  and  obligations  of 
the  United  States.  The  correspondence  between  the  de- 
partment of  State  and  this  minister,  will  show  how  essen- 
tially the  features  presented  in  its  commencement  have 
been  varied  in  its  progress.  It  will  show  also,  that,  forget- 
ting the  respect  due  to  all  governments,  he  did  not  refrain 
from  imputations  on  this,  which  required  that  no  further 
communications  should  be  received  from  him.  The  neces- 
sity of  this  step  will  be  made  known  to  his  Britannic 
majesty  through  the  minister  plenipotentiary  of  the  United 
States  at  London.  And  it  would  indicate  a  want  of  the 
confidence  due  to  a  government  which  so  well  understands 
and  exacts  what  becomes  foreign  ministers  near  it,  not  to 
infer  that  the  misconduct  of  its  own  representative  will  be 
viewed  in  the  same  light  in  which  it  has  been  regarded 
here.  The  British  government  will  learn,  at  the  same  time, 
that  a  ready  attention  will  be  given  to  communications 
through  any  channel  which  may  be  substituted.  It  will  be 
happy  if  the  change  in  this  respect  should  be  accompanied 
by  a  favorable  revision  of  the  unfriendly  policy  which  has 
been  so  long  pursued  towards  the  United  States." 

We  have  thus  made  copious  extracts  from  the  message, 
in  order  to  show  generally  the  true  state  of  the  relations 
between  the  two  countries.  To  go  into  details  would  re- 
quire an  examination  into  the  diplomatic  history  of  the 
times,  and  the  foreign  policy  of  the  government.  Enough 
has  been  said  to  shed  light  on  the  subjects  of  a  national 
character  in  the  discussion  of  which  Colonel  Troup  took 
part,  and  on  which  we  shall  soon  permit  him  to  speak  for 
himself.  "We  have  seen  that  as  early  as  October,  1807,  he 
believed  the  chances  of  war,  beyond  all  comparison,  greater 
than  those  of  peace.  But  things  had  now  reached  a  point 
where  even  the  cautious  policy  of  Mr.  Madison  failed  to 
avert  the  inevitable  consequence  of  British  denial  of  '•'•free 

*  Admiral  Berkeley. — ED. 

12 


90  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [C;up.  V. 

trade  and  sailors'  rights."  Preparation— actual  prepara- 
tion— for  war,  was  now  necessary,  and  for  this  the  Repub- 
lican party  set  about  in  earnest. 

Early  in  the  session, 

Mr.  Troup  begged  leave  to  submit  to  the  consideration 
of  the  House,  several  resolutions,  which  had  for  their  object 
the  vindication  of  the  commercial  rights  of  the  United 
States,  against  the  belligerent  nations  ot  Europe.  He  sub- 
mitted them  at  this  time,  with  less  reluctance,  because  the 
introduction  of  them  was  in  no  wise  inconsistent  with  the 
most  friendly  negotiations  which  might  be  pending  with 
foreign  governments.  It  is  high  time,  said  Mr.  T.,  in  my 
opinion,  that  these  commercial  rights  were  either  vindicated 
or  abandoned.  The  remnant  of  commerce  which  the  joint 
operation  of  the  belligerent  decrees  has  left  to  us,  is  scarce- 
ly worth  carrying  on.  To  designate  what  this  little  is, 
would  be  no  difficult  matter,  but  it  would  be  superfluous ; 
every  one  that  hears  me  understands  it. 

But,  it  would  be  well  to  inquire  on  what  principle  the 
belligerents  pretend  to  justify  these  commercial  restric- 
tions £  The  avowed  principle  is  retaliation,  but  is  it  the 
true  principle  ?  Unquestionably  not.  And  why  ( 
cause  it  is  equally  asserted  by  both  belligerents.  Both 
cannot  be  retaliators  ;  one  must  be  the  aggressor,  the  other 
the  retaliator.  If  this  principle,  then,  be  equally  urged 
by  both,  who  is  to  judge  between  them?  If  the  alleged 
principle  of  retaliation  be  not  the  true  one,  what  is?  As 
respects  France,  the  true  principle  of  her  decrees  is  to  be 
sought  in  the  policy  of  embarrassing  England  by  excluding 
from  the  continent  British  merchandise ;  and  as  to  Great 
Britain,  the  principle  of  her  Orders  in  Council  may  be 
found  in  the  consideration  of  her  interest  and  her  power. 
She  avowedly  contends  that  it  is  her  interest  to  engross  the 
commerce  of  the  world ;  that  she  has  the  power  to  engross 
it,  and,  therefore,  she  will  engross  it. 

But,  what  are  the  principles  more  specifically  asserted 
by  Great  Britain  2  First,  the  right  of  blockade  by  procla- 
mation ;  second,  the*  right  to  turn  your  vessels  into  her 
ports  to  pay  duty  and  take  out  a  license.  This  right  of 
blockading  by  proclamation  is  not  a  right  growing  out  of  a 
state  of  war  ;  it  is  no  belligerent  right;  it  is  a  pretension, 
as  applicable  to  a  state  of  peace  as  to  a  state  of  war,  and  if 
we  submit  to  it  in  a  state  of  war,  we  must  submit  to  it  in  u 
state  of  peace.  The  only  principle  of  blockade  which  we 
recognize,  is  that  which  gives  to  belligerents  a  right  to  turn 


CHAP.  V.]  MR.  TROUP'S  SPEECH.  91 

from  ports  so  closely  invested  as  to  make  the  entry  of  them 
dangerous ;  and,  after  due  warning,  vessels  bound  to  them. 
But  the  right  asserted  by  .Great  Britain  to  blockade  by  a 
piece  of  parchment  or  paper,  issued  from  her  council 
chamber,  a  port  or  ports,  a  kingdom  or  kingdoms,  a  conti- 
nent or  continents,  is  a  right  no  more  relative  to  a  state  of 
war  than  to  a  state  of  peace ;  and,  if  we  submit  to  the  pre- 
tension in  a  state  of  war,  we  must  equally  submit  to  it  in  a 
state  of  peace.  It  is  founded  on  the  most  arbitrary  tyran- 
ny, it  goes  to  the  annihilation  of  your  commerce.  As  to 
the  other  right,  of  forcing  our  vessels  into  her  ports,  to  pay 
duty  and  take  out  license,  this  is  equally  applicable  to  a 
state  of  peace  as  to  a  state  of  war.  We  acknowledge  the 
right  of  Great  Britain,  or  any  other  nation,  to  shut  her  ports 
against  us,  provided  there  be  no  treaty  stipulation  to  the 
contrary.  But  the  right  of  Great  Britain  or  of  France  to 
shut  the  ports  of  any  other  nation  against  us,  is  a  right  no 
more  appertaining  to  a  belligerent  than  to  a  neutral.  If 
we  submit  to  it  in  war,  we  must  equally  submit  in  peace  ; 
and  this  right,  like  the  other,  is  founded  in  the  most  arbi- 
trary tyranny.  What  right  has  Britain  to  tyrannize  on  the 
ocean,  and  prescribe  limits  to  our  trade  ?  She  will  not 
permit  to  us  a  trade  which  she  cannot  herself  enjoy.  She 
prohibits  to  us  a  trade  which  our  government  permits,  be- 
cause it  is  her  interest  to -monopolize  it.  It  is  equally  our 
interest  to  monopolize,  and,  therefore,  if  you  please,  sir,  we 
will  prohibit  the  trade  which  her  government  permits,  and 
which  it  is  our  interest  to  monopolize. 

If  Great  Britain  can  rightly  prohibit  our  trade,  because 
it  is  her  interest  to  prohibit  it,  have  we  not  the  right  to 
prohibit  her  trade  for  the  same  reason  ?  If  she,  with  right 
and  justice,  can  stop  and  seize  and  confiscate  our  vessels  be- 
cause they  attempt  a  trade  which  she  forbids,  and  only 
because  she  forbids  it,  cannot  our  government  do  the  same 
in  relation  to  her  trade  ?  If  she  can  turn  our  vessels  into 
her  ports  to  pay  duty  and  take  out  license,  what  prohibits 
us  from  doing  the  same  as  to  her  vessels  ?  England  is  a 
nation,  so  are  we.  England  is  independent,  so  are  we. 
What  prohibits  us  from  doing  to  England  what  England 
does  to  us  ?  Unquestionably  nothing.  To  say  that  we 
have  no  right  to  do  to  England  what  England  does  to  us, 
is  to  acknowledge  our  inferiority ;  it  is  to  acknowledge  that 
she  may  demand  without  hesitation,  and  that  we  are  under 
obligation  to  submit  without  hesitation. 

I  am  aware  that  it  may  be  objected  to  the  resolutions 
that  the  adoption  of  them  would  lead  to  hostility  ;  but  the 


92  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  Y. 

same  objection  is  equally  applicable  to  any  resolution 
which  would  go  to  the  vindication  of  our  commercial 
rights.  They  ought  not  to  lead  to  hostility;  they  are 
merely  retaliatory.  They  follow*  the  spirit  of  the  British 
Orders  in  Council  and  French  Decrees,  and  therefore  can- 
not be  complained  of  by  either  power.  There  is  a  great 
and  profitable  commerce,  and  rapidly  increasing,  passing 
not  indeed  before  our  doors,  but  near  enough  to  make  the 
capture  of  vessels  engaged  in  it  convenient  to  us,  which 
the  resolutions  have  chiefly  in  view.  I  allude  to  the  Brazil 
and  Spanish  Main  trade. 

Is  it  not  matter  of  surprise,  that  a  commerce  so  profitable, 
so  extensive,  and  so  convenient,  should  have  been  permit- 
ted to  a  Government  which  permits  no  commerce  to  us  but 
what  her  convenience  and  her  interest  suggest  ?  Is  it  not 
strange  that  we  should  have  suH'ered  that  Government  to 
participate  in  a  commerce  which  both  our  interest  and  our 
convenience  stimulate  us  to  engross?  But,  above  all,  is 
it  not  inexplicable  that  we  should  passively  have  suffered 
the  monopoly  of  it  by  her,  when  \ve  ourselves  wore  willing 
and  able  to  engross  it  ?  The  House  will  perceive,  on  the 
face  of  the  resolutions,  that,  as  they  regard  France,  they 
are  not  equivalent  to  a  war  measure — neither  by  a  war 
measure,  nor  by  that  which  I  have  the  honor  to  submit, 
can  we  come  in  contact  with  France ;  she  has  no  commerce 
on  the  ocean.  In  relation  to  England,  it  is  short,  infinitely 
short  of  war ;  because  by  war  her  continental  colonies 
would  fall ;  her  "West  India  Islands  would  be  distressed, 
and  our  privateers  would  cut  up  her  commerce ;  but  the 
resolutions  propose  merely  to  retort  the  evils  of  her  own 
injustice,  to  do  to  her  what,  and  no  more  than  what,  she 
has  done  to  us.  Reserving,  for  another  occasion,  an}r  further 
remarks,  I  beg  leave  to  read  the  resolutions  to  the  House. 

Mr.  T.  then  read  the  following  resolutions : 
Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  to  authorize  the  President, 
by  law,  to  instruct  the  commanders  of  the  armed  vessels  of 
the  United  States  to  stop  and  bring  into  the  ports  of  the 
same,  all  ships  or  vessels,  with  their  cargoes,  the  property  of 
the  subjects  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain  and  of  the  Empe- 
ror of  France,  bound  to  ports  other  than  those  within  the 
dominions  or  colonies  of  either. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  further  to  authorize  by  law 
the  detention  of  all  ships  or  vessels,  with  their  cargoes,  the 
property  of  the  subjects  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain,  until 
the  duties  to  be  regulated  and  ascertained  by  law  shall  be 


CHAP.  V.]  HIS  RESOLUTIONS.  93 

first  levied  and  collected  upon  the  goods  and  merchandise 
whereof  the  said  ships  or  vessels  shall  be  laden,  and  until 
the  said  ships  or  vessels  shall  have  received  due  license  to 
depart. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  expedient  further  to  authorize  by  law 
the  detention  of  all  ships  or  vessels,  with  their  cargoes,  the 
property  of  the  subjects  of  the  Emperor  of  France,  brought 
within  the  ports  of  the  United  States,  there  to  abide  the 
final  decision  or  order  of  Government  in  relation  to  the 
same. 

fiesolved,  That  an  ad  valorem  duty  of •  be  levied 

and  collected  on  all  the  goods,  wares  or  merchandise,  of 
British  product  or  manufacture. 

JResolved,  That  it  is  expedient  further  to  authorize  the 
President,  on  payment  of  the  duties  authorized  to  be  levied 
and  collected  on  the  goods  laden  on  board  vessels  the 
property  of  the  subjects  of  the  King  of  Great  Britain, 
forthwith  to  grant  a  license  to  such  vessels  to  depart  and 
to  proceed  to  the  port  of  original  destination,  without  further 
hinderance  or  molestation. 

The  House  having  agreed  to  consider  these  resolutions, 

On  motion  of  Mr.  Troup,  they  were  ordered  to  lie  on  the 
table,  as  he  stated,  to  give  every  member  the  same  time  to 
consider  them  as  he  had  himself  taken. 

It  does  not  appear  that  the  mover  of  these  resolutions 
ever  afterwards  called  them  up.  The  country  was  not 
prepared  for  them.  And  yet,  on  a  survey  of  the  then  ex- 
isting state  of  things,  it  is  difficult  to  perceive  why  the 
measures  indicated  by  them  would  not  have  been  the  best 
for  the  country.  On  principle,  they  would  have  given  as 
good  pretext  for  a  declaration  of  war  by  France,  as  by 
England,  against  the  United  States.  In  our  defensive  mode 
of  conducting  the  war  which  did  ensue,  the  former  power 
could,  without  a  navy,  have  inflicted  but  little  injury  on 
us,  and  there  seems  to  have  been  no  reason  why  we  should 
not  have  been  as  well  prepared  for  war  with  Great  Britain 
in  1809  as  in  1812.  We  had  submitted  to  insult  after  in- 
sult, from  that  power  ;  our  foreign  commerce  was  almost 
annihilated  by  her ;  and  what  little  remained  became  well* 
nigh  unavailable,  because  of  the  retaliatory  measures 
to  which  our  own  government  felt  compelled  to  resort, 


94  LITE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  V. 

whilst  it  was  hesitating  between  an  open  declaration  of 
war  and  a  system  of  commercial  restrictions ;  or,  rather, 
whilst,  by  a  resort  to  the  latter,  it  was  weakening  its  own 
resources  and  creating  discontents  at  home  by  measures 
more  injurious  to  our  own  people  than  detrimental  to  our 
enemies.  Indeed,  one  serious  ground  of  objection  to  the 
war,  when  at  last  it  was  declared,  was  that  it  came  too  late 
to  avenge  the  wrongs  of  the  country,  and  at  a  time  when 
a  large  portion  of  the  people  indulged  still  the  vain  hope 
that  negotiation  would  do  for  us  what  we  had  not  as  yet 
tried  by  open  hostilities. 

First  and  last,  Colonel  Troup  was  the  open  advocate  of 
his  country's  rights ;  and  although  he  foresaw  the  impolicy 
or  futility  of  mere  commercial  restrictions  so  long  adhered 
to,  yet,  when  the  conflict  came,  it  found  him  the  same  un- 
daunted supporter  of  a  vigorous  war,  that  he  had  been  of  a 
line  of  policy  that  would  have  hastened  the  crisis  or  have 
altogether  averted  it.  His  speeches  and  votes  show  that 
whilst  he  often  differed  from  his  political  friends,  in  matters 
of  detail,  he  never  deserted  the  Administration  of  his 
choice,  which  was  honestly  endeavoring  t<>  promote  the 
best  good  of  the  country.  On  17th  February,  1809,  he  had 
"  condemned  the  proposed  non-intercourse  system  as  sub- 
mission, without  even  money  in  return  for  it,"  and  on  the 
27th  of  the  same  month  he  voted,  against  the  bill.  His 
opinion  was,  as  we  have  seen,  that,  short  of  more  decided 
measures,  the  embargo,  properly  enforced,  and  followed  up 
by  a  pertinent  system  of  defence,  was  "  the  best  for  our 
situation  which  could  have  been  devised." 

Having  already  referred  to  the  general  provisions  of  the 
non-intercourse  act  of  1st  March,  1809,  (which  was  amended 
and,  as  to  certain  parts  of  it,  continued  in  force  "  until  the 
end  of  the  [then]  next  session  of  Congress,"  by  the  act  of 
June  28, 1809,)  we  cannot  do  better  than  make  the  following 
extracts  from  a  letter  of  Col.  Troup  to  Gov.  Mitchell,  dated 

WASHINGTON,  March  17,  1810. 

My  Dear  Sir :  I  offer  you  my  sincere  congratulation  on 
your  elevation  to  the  chief  magistracy,  but  especially  on 


CHAP.  V.]  LETTER  TO  GOV,  MITCHELL.  95 

the  prospect  which  is  every  day  opening  before  you  of 
uniting  more  various  and  stronger  interests  in  your  support 
than  several  of  your  immediate  predecessors.  The  people 
of  Georgia,  if  I  understand  them  rightly,  will  only  require 
the  firmness  and  moderation  and  dignity  with  which  you 
set  out,  to  yield  that  support  as  liberally  and  as  heartily 
as  ever  they  accorded  it  to  our  old  and  excellent  friend 
Jackson.  *  The  Southern 

States  require  all  the  qualities  which  command  respect,  to 
oppose  a  successful  resistance  to  the  Eastern  and  mercan- 
tile interests  in  Congress.  The  rights  of  the  former  are 
every  day  shamefully  sacrificed  to  the  undue  weight  of  the 
latter.  By  superior  intelligence,  by  cunning,  by  stratagem, 
individuals  are  detached  from  the  Southern  and  Western 
interests,  and  made  to  unite  in  measures  which  have  for 
their  object  the  prosperity  merely  of  New  England  naviga- 
tion and  fisheries.  The  rest  call  in  vain  for  union  and 
concert  in  behalf  of  the  interests  of  Southern  agriculture. 
The  Yankees,  with  these  stragglers,  carry  the  day,  and 
laugh  in  their  sleeves  at  the  zeal  with  which  Georgia  and 
South  Carolina  support  all  the  measures  of  the  general 
government.  It  is  thus  we  have  been  saddled  so  long  with 
non-intercourse,  and  it  is  thus  that  non-intercourse  is  pro- 
posed to  be  followed  by  another  frivolous  system  of  com- 
mercial restriction.'  I  have  long  witnessed  these  projects 
with  indignation,  and  seeing  that  in  all  of  them  nothing 
was  consulted  but  the  local  interests  of  the  day,  I  too  have 
looked  to  local  interests.  It  is  therefore  that  I  have  been 
for  war  or  free  commerce.  The  non-intercourse  co-operates 
with  the  Orders  of  Council,  1st,  to  carry  on  a  round-about 
trade  with  Great  Britain  in  her  own  vessels ;  2dly,  to  pro- 
hibit all  trade  with  France  or  Holland  or  Italy.  The  effect 
on  us  is  to  give  to  the  British  the  monopoly  of  our  cotton 
at  eleven  cents,  and  a  monopoly  of  the  supply  of  broad- 
cloths at  fourteen  dollars  the  yard.  Whilst  the  Yankees 
can  freight  their  vessels  to  smuggle  British  property  into 
the  continent,  they  care  not  two  straws  about  the  rest. 
The  wheat-grower  and  the  tobacco-planter  have  been  doing 
well  under  the  non-intercourse,  and  they  too  are  content. 
This  is  the  cause  of  our  stupid  perseverance  in  non-inter- 
course. Now  it  will  be  repealed,  or  suffered  to  expire  on 
the  close  of  the  session.  The  Senate  and  House  are  at 
variance  on  Mr.  Macon's  Bill.  In  the  conference,  'the  man- 
agers of  the  Senate  propose  to  incorporate  the  convoy 
principle ;  the  managers  on  our  part  dissent,  but  the  report 
has  not  been  acted  on  by  either.  The  result  is  problemat- 


96  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  V. 

ical.  As  we  hourly  expect  to  hear  from  our  ministers  at 
Paris  and  London,  there  is  no  desire  to  hurry  the  Bill- 
perhaps  it  is  well. 

With  best  wishes  for  you  and  yours,  I  am,  my  dear  sir, 
Eespectfully,  your  friend, 

GEO.  M.  TROUF. 

The  bill,  to  which  reference  is  made  in  this  letter,  had 
been  reported  by  Mr.  Macon,  from  the  committee  on  For- 
eign Relations,  as  early  as  December  19th.  The  following 
was  the  substance  of  it : 

[1809.]  The  first  section  prohibited  all  public  vessels  of 
Great  Britain  or  France  from  entering  the  harbors  of  the 
United  States,  subject  to  certain  exceptions.  The  second 
section  prescribed  the  punishment  for  violation  of  that 
provision.  The  third  section  prohibited  all  vessels  sailing 
under  the  flag  of  Great  Britain  or  France,  or  owned  in 
whole  or  in  part  by  any  citizen  of  either,  from  entering  the 
harbors  of  the  United  States.  The  fourth  section  prohib- 
ited the  importation  into  the  United  States  of  goods  from 
Great  Britain  or  Ireland,  and  France,  and  their  colonies,  or 
of  goods  from  any  foreign  port,  the  growth,  .product  or 
manufacture  of  Great  Britain  or  France,  unless  in  vessels 
owned  wholly  by  citizens  of  the  United  States.  The  above 
provisions  to  take  immediate  effect.  The  fifth  section  pro- 
hibited, after  the  15th  of  April,  the  importation  of  goods 
from  Great  Britain  and  France,  and  their  colonies,  unless 
imported  directly  therefrom.  The  next  three  sections  af- 
fixed penalties  for  infraction  of  these  provisions.  The  ninth 
section  authorized  the  President,  in  case  either  Great 
Britain  or  France  so  revoked  or  modified  her  edicts  as  to 
cease  to  violate  the  neutral  commerce  of  the  United  States, 
to  declare  the  same  by  proclamation ;  after  which,  the  pro- 
hibitions of  the  bill,  on  the  commerce  of  the  nation  so 
doing,  should  cease.  The  next  section  repealed  the  act  of 
28th  June,  1809,  to  amend  and  continue  in  force  certain 
parts  of  the  non-intercourse  act  of  1st  March,  1809.  The 
last  section  limited  the  operation  of  the  act  to  the  end  of 
the  then  next  session  of  Congress. 


CHAP.  V.]  SPEECH   ON  NON-INTERCOURSE.  97 

In  consequence  of  disagreement  between  the  two  Houses, 
the  bill  was  finally  lost.  After  sundry  amendments,  it  had 
passed  the  House — all  the  Repre|entatives  from  Georgia 
voting  for  it,  except  Colonel  Troup.  In  the  debate  on  the 
disagreement  of  the  two  Houses, 

Mr.  Troup  remarked  that  gentlemen,  in  speaking  of  the 
bill  as  it  went  from  this  House,  seemed  to  have  forgotten 
the  contents  of  that  bill.  It  was  spoken  of  as  a  bill  full  of 
resistance.  If  any  such  principle  was  contained  in  the  bill, 
he  had  no  recollection  of  it.  If  he  recollected  right,  the 
part  struck  out  proposed  a  direct  commerce  to  the  ports  of 
the  belligerents  in  our  owri  vessels.  Was  this  the  principle 
of  resistance  ?  He  had  thought  that,  last  winter,  non- 
intercourse  was  resistance.  But  it  seemed  that  what  was 
resistance  then  was  submission  now.  If  the  Senate  was 
disposed  to  resist  in  reality  with  cannon  and  ball,  and  there- 
fore would  not  take  the  milk-and-water  resistance  of  this 
bill,  he  did  not  feel  disposed  to  blame  them. 

[1810.]  On  the  question  of  insisting  on  the  disagreement 
to  the  amendments  of  the  Senate,  Colonel  Troup  again 
voted  in  the  negative — the  rest  of  the  Georgia  delegation 
voting  in  the  affirmative.  The  following  speech,  delivered 
on  the  27th  of  March,  will  explain  the  reasons  for  his  votes, 
and  throw  light  on  the  subject  under  consideration.  The 
question  recurring  on  adhering  to  the  disagreement  to  the 
Senate's  amendments, 

Mr.  Troup  said,  if  it  was  the  object  of  gentlemen  to  get 
rid  of  all  commercial  restrictions,  they  could  only  do  so  by 
concurring  with  the  Senate.  If  they  adhered,  their  object 
would  indeed  be  defeated.  The  non-intercourse  would  be 
saddled  on  the  country  so  long  as  the  law  continued  in  op- 
eration. Look  at  the  sections  of  the  bill  as  it  went  from 
this  House,  said  Mr.  T.  It  is  true  that  one  of  these  sections 
repeals  the  non-intercourse,  but  it  is  also  true  that  another 
section  substitutes  a  measure,  which,  if  retaliated,  must 
revive  the  non-intercourse  in  fact.  Not  only  are  these  pro- 
visions inconsistent,  but  another  section  of  the  bill  recog- 
nizes that  inconsistency,  and  provides  a  remedy,  by 
authorizing  the  President  to  execute  the  law  within  four 
leagues  of  the  coast,  by  employing  the  public  armed  vessels 
of  the  United  States  to  detect  smugglers.  Now,  I  say,  sir, 
that  the  amendment  of  the  Senate,  which  goes  to  the  de- 
13 


98  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  V. 

struction  of  these  sections,  has  for  its  object  the  destruction 
of  the  non-intercourse  law.  Sir,  no  man  can  contemplate 
the  non-intercourse  law  in  a  light  more  serious  as  an  evil 
to  the  people  of  this  country,  than  myself.  There  never 
was  a  measure  adopted  more  deleterious  in  its  operation  on 
the  morals  and  interests  of  the  people.  The  single  effect 
of  it  has  been  to  depreciate  the  staple  commodity  of  the 
country  at  the  rate  of  one  hundred  per  cent.,  and  exalt  the 
British  manufactures  in  the  same  ratio ;  to  make  cotton  sell 
at  eleven  cents  a  pound,  and  to  make  the  growers  of  it  pay 
fourteen  dollars  a  yard  for  broadcloth.  Look  at  the  prac- 
tical operation  of  it.  A  cargo  of  cotton  from  a  southern 
port  is  landed  at  Amelia  Island ."  If  British  goods  are 
there,  ready  for  exchange,  they  are  taken  in  exchange  for 
the  cotton,  and  smuggled  into  the  country.  If  there  be  no 
goods  there,  they  bring  back  no  return,  except  the  freight 
for  the  short  navigation  to  Amelia  Island.  The  cargo  is 
landed,  a  duty  of  eight  per  cent,  paid  on  it,  besides  <•< mi- 
missions,  &c.,  and  a  duty  of  eight  or  ten  per  cent,  more  on 
re-exportation,  and  what  freight  the  British  ship-holders 
choose  to  demand.  This  is  not  only  the  effect  of  the  non- 
intercourse.  It  must  be  the  effect  of  every  system  of 
commercial  restriction  short  of  the  measure  of  embargo ; 
because  all  the  penalties  and  sanctions  which  you  can  possi- 
bly devise  for  carrying  that  system  into  operation,  must 
operate  on  a  class  without  the  reach  of  those  penal  i 
people  who  are  without  your  jurisdiction;  people,  too,  wh<> 
tell  you,  in  the  plainest  language,  they  have  no  country, 
that  they  are  governed  by  no  sentiment  of  honor  or  princi- 
ple of  patriotism,  that  commercial  gain  is  the  sole  object 
of  their  consideration,  and  that  every  other  object  will  be 
sacrificed  to  it.  Does  not  every  day's  experience  apprise 
you  that  this  is  the  truth  (  Look  at  the  common  practice 
and  habits  of  those  called  ship-owners.  Are  they  not 
every  day  lending  their  vessels  to  the  British  merchants  for 
the  purpose  of  violating  the  continental  policy,  to  the 
French,  the  Dutch  or  any  other  merchants,  for  the  purpose 
of  violating  the  British  Orders  in  Council,  or  to  British  and 
French  merchants,  for  violating  the  laws  of  their  own  coun- 
try (  And  is  it  possible,  sir,  that  you  expect  to  execute, 
with  any  degree  of  success,  a  system  which  is  to  operate 
on  the  belligerents,  when  the  penalties  for  a  violation  of 
the  system  are  to  operate  on  this  class  i  It  is  impossible ; 
such  a  system  must  be  futile  and  inefficient.  Because, 
then,  I  am  disposed  to  get  rid  of  the  non-intercourse  and 

*  Then  a  dependency  of  Spain. — ED. 


CHAP.  V.]  SPEECH    ON    NON-INTERCOURSE.  99 

every  sort  of  commercial  restriction,  considering  it  injuri- 
ous only  to  ourselves,  can  it  be  said  that  I  am  disposed  to 
submit  to  the  orders  and  decrees  of  the  belligerents  \  No, 
sir ;  those  gentlemen  have  surrendered  the  rights  and  inter- 
ests of  the  country,  who  did  originally  submit  to  an  aban- 
donment of  the  embargo.  It  is  true  now,  and  it  was  true 
then,  that  there  was  nothing  between  you  and  the  British 
Orders  in  Council,  but  either  embargo  or  war.""  You  re- 
pealed the  embargo,  and  refused  to  go  to  war,  and  now,  as 
then,  there  is  no  remedy  short  of  war  or  embargo.  Pro- 
pose what  other  remedy  you  please,  and  it  is  only  calculated 
to  excite  ridicule  abroad.  If  you  propose  to  convoy — 
what !  it  is  asked,  will  you  convoy  a  trade  to  every  quarter 
of  the  globe  with  six,  eight,  or  ten  frigates  ?  If  you  propose 
to  arm  the  merchantmen — what !  it  is  asked,  will  you  arm 
your  merchantmen  against  the  British  navy  ?  If  we  are  to 
have  neither  embargo  nor  war,  I, for  one,  am  willing  to  get 
rid  of  the  non-intercourse,  and  not  substitute  anything  for 
it.  To  obtain  this  object,  there  is  no  mode  left  but  to  con- 
cur with  the  Senate  in  their  amendments,  and  strike  out 
those  clauses  which  can  have  no  other  effect  than  to  per- 
petuate the  system  of  non-intercourse. 

In  all  this,  Colonel  Troup  was  consistent.  We  have  seen 
that  he  opposed  and  voted  against  the  repeal  of  the  em- 
bargo. That  he  differed  from  a  majority  of  both  Houses 
and  the  President,  is  no  evidence  that  he  was  wrong.  In 
his  conduct  on  this,  as  on  all  other  subjects,  we  have  the 
highest  evidence  of  an  independent  and  self-relying  spirit. 
Beyond  its  principles,  party  had  no  trammels  for  him.  In 
the  House,  Dr.  Bibb  voted  with  Col.  Troup,  Dr.  Smelt  voted 
the  other  way — Mr.  Cobb  was  absent.  In  the  Senate,  Gov. 
Milledge  voted  for  the  bill,  and  Mr.  Crawford  against  it. 

During  the  session  of  1809-'10,  the  question  of  the  re- 
charter  of  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  came  before 
Congress.  In  the  first  section  of  the  bill,  there  was  a  provi- 
sion that  the  President  and  Directors  should  "  pay  into  the 
Treasury  of  the  United  States  one  million  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand  dollars,  as  the  price  and  equivalent  for  the 
renewal  and  continuance  of  their  charter  as  aforesaid" 
On  this  subject, 

*    Did  not  subsequent  events  fully  justify  this  prediction  ? — ED. 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciup.  V. 

[1810.]  Mr.  Troup  said  gentlemen  might  pass  the  bill, 
but  for  the  Constitutional  question.  If  they  did  pass  it,  he 
hoped  they  would  not  permit  themselves  to  become  the 
retailing  hucksters  of  the  community  for  the  sake  of  bank 
charters.  In  the  name  of  common  honesty,  said  he,  I  be- 
seech you,  what  power  have  you  to  sell  a  charter  *  There 
is  power  in  the  Constitution' to  sell  the  public  property ; 
but  there  is  certainly  no  power  to  sell  privileges  of  any 
kind.  I  therefore  move  you  to  strike  out  the  bribe,  the 
douceur,  the  bonus,  as  gentlemen  call  it,  of  £1,250,000. 

.  On  the  same  day,  (April  21,)  he  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  Troup  said  he  forbore  at  present  going  into  the 
question  of  constitutionality.  He  had  no  idea  thjit  he 
could,  with  any  efficiency  whatever,  stand  up  on  this  floor, 
with  such  a  weapon  as  an  argument,  to  contend  with  a 
moneyed  institution  of  ten  millions.  IT  1  am  not  disposed 
to  go  into  the  general  question  of  constitutionality,  said  he, 
I  am  as  certainly  indisposed  to  derive  this  power  from  the 
power  to  pass  all  laws  necessary  and  proper.  I  am  the 
more  reluctant  to  do  so,  because  it  is  a  dangerous  power, 
and  ought  not  to  be  derived  by  implication.  I  say  that  the 
power  is  dangerous,  for  if  it  be  conceded  that  the  Congress 
of  the  United  States  have  a  right  to  erect  a  moneyed  insti- 
tution with  a  capital  of  ten  or  twenty  millions,  it  is  compe- 
tent to  erect  one  with  a  capital  of  one  hundred  milions.  It 
may  be  competent,  therefore,  to  the  United  States  to  raise 
a  corporation  more  powerful  than  itself — a  moneyed  insti- 
tution wnich  may  absorb  all  the  powers  of  the  State.  And 
this  principle  as  a  precedent  will  be  more  dangerous  in  this 
case,  because  the  temptation  is  so  much  greater  in  propor- 
tion to  the  amount  of  capital.  I  do  contend  that  if  the 
Constitution  did  intend  to  grant  the  power  of  chartering 
moneyed  institutions,  it  did  not  intend  to  grant  it  for  the 
purposes  of  speculation,  and  of  speculation  merely.  Sell 
privileges!  Sell,  for  $1,250,000,  the  exclusive  privilege  of 
taking  usurious  interest  on  money  !  I  thought,  sir,  that 
the  power  of  selling  privileges  and  indulgences  was  exclu- 
sively the  right  and  power  of  the  Pope.  I  ask  gentlemen 
on  what  authority  they  act  ?  On  none  of  morality,  certain- 
ly—but  on  what  authority  I  On  that  of- the  corrupt  gov- 
ernment of  England.  Servile  imitators^of  England,'  we 
must  have  a  national  bank  !  And  why  not  an  East  India 
Company  ?  We  could  sell  a  charter,  tomorrow,  for  millions. 
We  could  sell  chartered  privileges  for  almost  as  much  as 
we  should  choose  to  ask.  If  we  become  the  retailers  of 


CHAP.  V.]  SPEECH  ON  THE  U.  S.  BANK.  101 

privileges,  we  shall  go  on  to  sell  them  till  we  overdo  the 
business  ;  and  when  this  great  national  source  of  revenue, 
after  becoming  our  chief  and  only  resource,  had  failed,  to 
what  resources  for  revenue  should  we  be  driven  ?  Is  it  not 
a  very  rational  inference,  that  it  will  be  to  the  sale  of  all 
privileges  we  can  derive  from  the  Constitution  a  power  to 
dispose  of?  If,  sir,  on  any  occasion  you  would  set  up,  in 
the  market,  privileges  for  sale  to  the  highest  bidder,  even 
do  so  with  respect  to  privileges  of  every  description.  You 
would  no  more  hesitate  to  set  up,  for  sale,  privileges  of  no^ 
bility  than  this  privilege — but  (I  thank  God  !)  the  Constitu- 
tion has  prohibited  you.  But  for  that,  we  would  sell  theih 
now  as  we  do  bank  privileges  ;  we  should  go  on  to  make  it 
our  chief  resource,  till,  by  the  cheapness  of  the  title,  we 
should  destroy  the  value  of  the  trade.  If  we  can  draw 
money  into  the  Treasury,  by  bargain  and  sale  of  privileges, 
let  it  be  understood  that  we  shall  continue  to  foster  it  as 
our  chief  national  resource.  Having  done  with  internal 
and  direct  taxes  of  all  descriptions,  because  we  consider 
them  oppressive,  this  sale  of  privileges  will  be  made  the 
chief  national  resource. 

I  will  add  but  one  thing.  The  moment  you  accept  this 
$1,250,000,  you  are  bribed  in  the  same  manner  as  the 
British  Parliament  have  suffered  themselves  to  be  corrupted. 
Like  them,  we  not  only  shamefully  partake  of  the  crime,  but 
on  our  statute  book  acknowledge  the  fact. 

In  continuation  of  the  debate,  the  same  day,  and  in  reply 
to  Mr.  Key,  of  Maryland, 

Mr.  Troup  observed  that  the  gentleman  had  said  that 
the  power  to  incorporate  a  bank  was  derived  from  the 
power  to  lay  and  collect  revenue  ;  and  that  the  power 
ought  to  be  exercised,  because  banks  give  a  facility  to  the 
collection  of  the  revenue.  If  the  power  be  exercised,  it 
must  be  necessary  and  proper.  If  it  be  necessary  to  the 
collection  of  the  revenue,  the  revenue  cannot  be  collected 
without  it.  The  gentleman  from  Maryland  might  say  a 
bank  institution  was  useful.  He  might  say  it  would  give 
facility  to  the  collection  of  the  revenue ;  but  facility  and 
necessity  are  wholly  different,  and  the  Constitution  says 
that  a  power,  to  be  incidental,  must  be  necessary  and 
proper.  If  facility  be  a  ground  of  action,  we  are  greatly 
wide  of  the  true  policy.  We  ought  to  adopt  that  measure 
which  shall  give  the  greatest  facility.  The  ingenious  gen- 
tleman himself  could  sit  down  and  in  fifteen  minutes  devise 
half  a  dozen  modes  whicli  would  give  infinitely  more 


102  LI*1E  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  V. 

facility  than  a  bank  to  the  collection  of  the  revenue.  He 
might  farm  out  the  revenue  ;  establish  farming  districts ; 
put  a  farmer-general  at  the  head  of  them,  with  a  corps  of 
Janizaries.  The  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  would  have 
nothing  to  do  but  draw  on  him  for  a  sum  of  money,  and 
require  it  or  his  head.  This,  sir,  is  a  plan  which  would 
give  the  greatest  possible  facility.  You  could  command 
money  of  the  farmer-general,  or  you  could  require  his  head. 
Himself  and  his  Janizaries  could  always  send  the  money  ; 
or,  if  lie  did  not,  the  people  and  the  Janizaries  could  send 
his  head. 


Such  is  a  synopsis  of  the  argument  against  a  Ban! 
the  United  States.  Col.  Troup  was  always  opposed  to  the 
measure.  It  was  enough  for  him  to  know  that  the  question 
of  Constitutional  power  was  a  doubtful  one.  His  argument 
always  was,  in  reference  to  a  doubtful  power,  forbear  to 
exercise  it,  BECAUSE  it  is  doubtful.  Let  those  who  pretend 
to  believe  that  his  doctrines,  in  their  practical  enforcement, 
lead  to  anarchy,  remember  that  whilst  he  honestly  believed 
the  tendency  of  our  federative  system  was  towards  con- 
solidation, he  steadily  maintained,  practically  and  in  theory, 
that  the  proper  and  only  way  to  keep  up  the  Constitutional 
equipoise,  was  in  adhering  strictly  to  the  letter  of  the 
compact,  without  encroachment  by  the  States  or  usurpation 
by  the  Federal  Government.  If  he  ever  maintained  any 
other  doctrine,  the  fact  is  unknown  to  those  who  most 
closely  watched  his  political  career,  and  have  since  most 
honestly  studied  his  recorded  opinions.  Such  a  system  of 
government  is  that  which  the  framers  of  the  Constitution 
intended  ;  and  he  is  the  enemy  of  that  instrument  who 
would  degrade  the  States  to  a  blind  and  passive  submission 
to  any  encroachment  upon  their  rights  which  a  corrupt  or 
interested  majority  in  Congress  should  choose  to  enact. 

Yielding  to  the  pressure  of  the  times,  many  honest  men 
of  the  Eepublican  party  were  led  to  support  a  National 
Bank— amongst  others,  the  late  President,  Mr.  Madison  ; 
but  Col.  Troup  was  not  in  Congress  when  the  act  of  incor- 
poration was  passed  in  April,  1816 ;  and  his  last  recorded 


CHAP.  V.]  SPEECH  ON  THE  U.  S.  BANK.  103 

vote  on  that  subject,  in  the  House,"""  was  on  the  ITth  day  of 
February,  1815,  when  he  voted,  with  the  majority,  to 
postpone  indefinitely  a  bill  to  incorporate  a  Bank  of  the 
United  States. 

[1810.]  The  second  session  of  the  Eleventh  Congress 
closed  on  the  1st  day  of  May. 

At  the  third  session,  which  began  on  3d  December,  Col. 
Troup  was  re-appointed  on  the  committee  on  Elections,  and 
was  also  placed  on  the  standing  committee  on  the  Post 
Office  and  Post  Roads. 

The  President's  Message  showed  that  no  improvement 
had  occurred  in  the  aspect  of  our  relations  with  Great 
Britain  and  France. 

The  most  important  act  of  the  session  was  one  entitled 
"  An  Act  supplementary  to  the  Act,  entitled  '  An  Act  con- 
cerning the  commercial  intercourse  between  the  United 
States  and  Great  Britain  and  France,  and  their  dependen- 
cies, and  for  other  purposes,' "  the  second  section  of  which 
was  as  follows : 

"  That,  in  case  Great  Britain  shall  so  revoke  or  modify 
her  edicts,  as  that  they  shall  cease  to  violate  the  neutral 
commerce  of  the  United  States,  the  President  shall  declare 
the  fact  by  proclamation  ;  and  such  proclamation  shall  be 
admitted  as  evidence,  and  no  other  evidence  shall  be  ad- 
mitted of  such  revocation  or  modification  in  any  suit  or 
prosecution  which  may  be  instituted  under  the  fourth  sec- 
tion of  the  act  to  which  this  act  is  a  supplement.  And  the 
restrictions  imposed,  or  which  may  be  imposed,  by  virtue 
of  the  said  act,  shall,  from  the  date  of  such  proclamation, 
cease  and  be  discontinued." 

[1811.]  For  this  bill  Col.  Troup  voted.  He  took,  how- 
ever, little  part  in  debate.  The  most  important  subject  on 
which  he  spoke  was  the  motion  made  on  21st  January,  to 
postpone  indefinitely  the  consideration  of  the  bill  for  re- 
chartering  the  Bank  of  the  United  States. 

*  On  the  llth  day  of  June,  1832,  Gov.  Troup  voted  in  the  Senate  against  the  re-charter 
of  the  United  States  Bank;  but  the  bill,  having  passed  both  Houses,  was  vetoed  by  President 
Jackson,  on  the  10th  of  July ;  and,  on  the  13th  of  the  same  month,  the  question  coming  up 
whether  the  bill  should  become  a  law,  notwithstanding  the  President's  objection,  it  was  de- 
cided in  the  negative — Gov.  Troup  voting  to  sustain  the  President. — ED. 


104  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  V  . 

Mr.  Troup  conceived  the  motion  now  made  to  be  per- 
fectly proper.  He  felt,  however,  under  no  obligation  to 
accommodate  the  bank.  The  act  granting  an  act  of  incor- 
poration was  entirely  a  voluntary  act,  and  the  duration  of 
it  limited  in  the  act  itself  to  a  term  of  twenty  years.  If  the 
bank  had  acted  the  part  of  an  ordinary  or  discreet  merchant, 
it  would  have  taken  care,  before  the  expiration  of  its  char- 
ter, to  have  wound  up  its  business  and  be  prepared  to  meet 
the  event ;  because  the  Legislature  was  not  bound  to  renew 
it,  not  having,  either  by  the  original  charter,  or  by  any 
subsequent  act,  given  any  pledge  that  it  would  do  so.  The 
bank  not  having  received  any  pledge  of  renewal,  ought  f<> 
have  been  prepared  for  its  dissolution.  If  the  institution 
had  done  what  it  ought  to  have  done,  the  Government,  so 
tar  as  it  is  concerned,  would  have  prepared  itself  against 
the  event,  as  he  was  told  it  was  now  about  to  do,  by  sub- 
stituting arrangements  with  the  State  banks  for  arrange- 
ments with  the  Bank  of  the  United  States  or  its  1  .ranches. 
Mr.  T.  could  therefore  Bee  no  difficulty  in  assenting  to  this 
proposition,  whether  as  respected  the  Government  or  a- 
respected  the  individuals  concerned  in  the  Bank. 

On  the  24th  of  January,  the  question  was  decided  in  the 
affirmative — yeas  sixty-five,  nays  sixty-four — Col.  Troup 
voting  with  the  majority. 

The  third  and  last  session  of  the  Eleventh  Congress  ter- 
minated 3d  March,  1811. 


CHAP.  VI.]  RE-ELECTION  TO  CONGRESS.  105 


CHAPTEE  VI. 

Col.  Troup' s  Re-Election  to  Congress  in  1810. — Stateofthe  Country. 
Declaration  of    War. —  Course  in    Congress. 

IN  October,  1810,  the  people  of  Georgia  elected,  as  their 
Representatives  in  the  Federal  Legislature,  William  "W. 
Bibb,  Howell  Cobb,*  Boiling  Hall  and  George  M.  Troup. 
Col.  Troup  was  at  this  time  residing  in  Montgomery 
County. 

The  first  session  of  the  Twelfth  Congress  began  on  the 
fourth  day  of  November,  1811,  pursuant  to  proclamation 
of  the  President ;  and  on  that  day  the  above  named  Repre- 
sentatives from  Georgia  took  their  seats  in  the  House. 
The  aspect  of  our  foreign  relations  had  not  improved. 
In  his  opening  Message,  (Nov.  5,)  the  President  said : 

"  In  calling  you  together  sooner  than  a  separation  from 
your  homes  would  otherwise  have  been  required,  I  yielded 
to  considerations  drawn  from  the  posture  of  our  foreign 
affairs ;  and  in  fixing  the  present  for  the  time  of  your  meet- 
ing, regard  was  had  to  the  probability  of  further  develop- 
ments of  the  policy  of  the  belligerent  powers  towards  this 
country,  which  might  the  more  unite  the  national  councils 
in  the  measures  to  be  pursued.  At  the  close  of  the  last 
session  of  Congress,  it  was  hoped  that  the  successive  con- 
firmations of  the  extinction  of  the  French  decrees,  so  far 
as  they  violated  our  neutral  commerce,  would  have  in- 
duced the  government  of  Great  Britain  to  repeal  its  orders 
in  council,  and  thereby  authorize  a  removal  of  the  exist- 
ing obstructions  to  her  commerce  with  the  United  States. 
Instead  of  this  reasonable  step  toward  satisfaction  and  friend- 
ship between  the  two  nations,  the  orders  were,  at  a  mo- 
ment when  least  to  have  been  expected,  put  into  more  rig- 
orous execution ;  and  it  was  communicated  through  the 
British  envoy  just  arrived,  that  while  the  revocation  of 
the  edicts  of  France,  as  officially  made  known  to  the  Brit- 
ish government,  was  denied  to  have  taken  place,  it  was  an 

*  On  27th  November,  1812,  William  Barnett  took  his  scat  in  the  House  of  Representatives,  as 
a  member  of  the  Twelfth  Congress,  in  place  of  Howell  Cobb,  resigned, — ED. 


10(}  LIKE   OF  GEORGE  M.  TROIT.  [Ciur.  VI. 

indispensable  condition  of  the  repeal  of  the  British  orders 
that  commerce  should  be  restored  to  a  footing  that  -woiild 
admit  the  productions  and  manufactures  of  Great  Britain, 
when  owned  by  neutrals,  into  markets  shut  against  them 
by  her  enemy  ;  the  United  States  being  given  to  under- 
stand that,  in  the  mean  time,  a  continuance  of  their  non- 
importation act  would  lead  to  measures  of  retaliation." 

After  further  enumeration,  the  message  proceeded : 

"  I  must  now  add,  that  the  period  is  arrived  which  claims 
from  the  legislative  guardians  of  the  national  rights,  a 
tern  of  more  ample  provisions  for  maintaining  them.  Not- 
withstanding the  scrupulous  justice,  the  protracted  moder- 
ation, and  the  multiplied  efforts  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States,  to  substitute,  for  the  accumulating  dangers  to  the 
peace  of  the  two  countries,  all  the  mutual  advantages  of 
re-established  friendship  and  confidence,  we  have  seen  that 
the  British  cabinet  perseveres  not  only  in  withholding  a 
remedy  for  other  wrongs,  so  long  and  so  loudly  calling  for 
it,  but,  in  the  execution,  brought  home  to  the  threshold  of 
our  territory,  of  measures  which,  under  existing  circum- 
stances, have  the  character  as  well  as  the  effect  of  war  on 
our  lawful  commerce.  With  this  evidence  of  hostile  in- 
flexibility in  trampling  on  rights  which  no  independent 
nation  can  relinquish,  Congress  will  feel  the  duty  of  put- 
ting the  United  States  into  an  armor  and  an  attitude  de- 
manded by  the  crisis,  and  corresponding  with  the  national 
spirit  and  expectations." 

The  Message  then  recommended,  more  in  detail,  such 
measures  of  preparation  as  the  exigency  of  the  times 
seemed  to  demand. 

Thus  we  see  that  the  anticipations  of  Colonel  Troup,  in 
regard  to  the  futility  of  the  non-intercourse  measures,  eith- 
er in  securing  our  rights  or  preventing  a  war,  were  about 
to  be  realized.  But  preparation  for  war  required  the  rais- 
ing of  means  to  carry  on  the  war ;  and  this,  except  by  the 
temporary  expedient  of  a  loan,  could  be  done  only  by  tax- 
ation. 

In  answer  to  a  letter  of  inquiry  from  the  House  committee 
of  Ways  and  Means,  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  Mr. 
Gallatin,  submitted  on  10th  January,  1812,  an  estimate  of 
the  amount,  and  the  mode  of  raising  a  revenue,  sufficient 
for  the  wants  of  the  country. 


CHAP.  VI.]        ANOTHER  LETTER  TO  GOV.  MITCHELL.  107 

And  here  it  is  proper  to  introduce  a  letter  from  Colonel 
Troup  to  Governor  Mitchell,  altogether  characteristic  of 
the  writer,  and  which  shows  his  position  and  views  in  re- 
ference to  the  then  state  of  public  affairs : 

WASHINGTON,  12th  February,  1812. 

Dear  Sir : — I  had  the  pleasure  to  receive  your  favor  yes- 
terday. Your  sentiments  on  our  national  affairs  are  always 
welcome.  They  are  particularly  so  at  this  time.  The  pub- 
lic mind  had  proceeded,  with  slow  step,  from  doubt  to  re- 
solution ;  and  when,  at  last,  it  settled  in  conviction,  it  was 
not  to  be  supposed  that  anything  short  of  the  attainment  of 
its  object  would  have  satisfied  it.  This  may  be  true  yet ; 
but  it  does  not  seem  as  palpably  true  now  as  a  few  weeks 
ago.  To  say  that  the  retrograde  step  is  commenced,  or  will 
be  commenced,  would  be  saying  too  much ;  but  that  the 
war  mercury  has  sunk  a  little,  nobody  here  can  doubt. 
The  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  has  done  this. 

What — you  will  ask — men  ready  to  go  to  war  who  are 
not  ready  to  vote  taxes  ?  Yes ;  the  very  name  is  more  ter- 
rible than  50,000  British  bayonets.  But  not  so  much  the 
taxes :  there  is  the  excise,  and  the  stamp,  and  the  salt  duty. 
We  can  get  along  without  them  ;  loans  are  better  ;  Treas- 
ury notes  are  better  than  loans,  &c.,  &c.  Can  a  system 
grow  out  of  this  discordance  ? 

There  are  only  two  alternatives :  the  expenses  being  al- 
ready authorized  by  law,""'  we  must  repeal  the  law  or  raise 
the  money.  To  repeal  the  laws,  will  be  to  abandon,  in  the 
most  deliberate  manner,  the  contest ;  and  money  to  a  limited 
amount  only  can  be  raised  by  loans.  A  majority,  therefore, 
will  be  found  at  last  to  unite  in  a  system  of  taxation,  di- 
rect and  indirect.  The  subjects  of  the  former  will  be,  prob- 
ably, spirits,  carriages,  refined  sugars,  licenses  to  retailers, 
stamps  on  Bank  paper. 

Is  it  surprising,  then,  that  in  the  midst  of  this  perplexity 
we  should  require  your  countenance  and  encouragement  ? 
For  myself,  1  denounce  all  further  temporizing  or  inde- 
cision; and,  our  Foreign  relations  continuing  the  same, 
nothing  but  a  declaration  of  war  or  an  open  abandonment 
of  the  contest  will  satisfy  me.  Nothing  short  of  this  can 
satisfy  the  just  expectations  of  the  Southern  people,  who 
have  been  bearing  the  brunt  of  the  restrictive  system  from 
the  beginning. 

*  Referring  to  "  An  Act  to  raise  an  additional  Military  force,"  approved  llth  January,  1812, 
and  "  An  Act  authorizing  the  President  of  the  United  States  to  accept  and  organize  certain 
Volunteer  and  Military  corps." — ED. 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M   TROUT.  [CHAP.  VI. 

"We  have  much  to  hope  from  the  diplomatic  skill  of  "Mr. 
Barlow  :  but  should  he  fail  in  relieving  our  cotton  from 
the  prohibitory  duty,  there  will  be  little  scruple  among 
Southern  men  in  "  recurring  to  measures  not  literally  war- 
ranted by  the  'bargain." 

The  Officers  of  the  25,oin>  Imve  been  apportioned  among 
the  respective  States,  and  to  our  share  has  fallen  the  ap- 
pointment of  one  Lieutenant-Colonel,  one  Major,  seven 
Captains,  and  a  proportionate  number  of  subalterns.  The 
first  has  been  given  to  General  Jack,  the  second  to  Moss- 
man  Houstoun. 

Some  doubts  are  entertained  of  the  practicability  of 
raising  men  on  enlistment  for  five  years.  This  may  give 
rise  to  a  bill  for  raising  a  certain  number  on  short  enlist- 
ment. 

On  the  subject  of  the  ensuing  Congressional  election: 
my  interest,  you  know,  imperiously  demands  my  attention 


barrassment  or  trouble  to  our  friends. 
With  best  wishes  for  you  and  yo 

T  am,   dear  Governor,  very  Sincerely, 

.  M.  TUOUP. 

On  the  29th  November,  1811,  the  committee  on  Foreign 
Relations  made  a  report  to  the  House,  in  which  they  briefly 
but  forcibly  reviewed  the  causes  and  state  of  our  differ- 
ences with  Great  Britain,  and  which  they  concluded  by 
recommending, 

"1st.  That  the  Military  Establishment,  as  authorized  by 
the  existing  laws,  ought  to  be  immediately  completed  by 
filling  up  the  ranks,  and  prolonging  the  enlistment  of  the 
troops ;  and  that,  to  encourage  enlistment,  a  bounty  in  lands 
ought  to  be  given  in  addition  to  the  pay  and  bounty  now 
allowed  by  law. 

"  2d.  That  an  additional  force  of  ten  thousand  regular 
troops  ought  to  be  immediately  raided  to  serve  for  three 
years ;  and  that  a  bounty  in  land  ought  to  be  given  to  en- 
courage enlistments. 

.    "  3d.  That  it  is  expedient  to  authorize  the  President,  under 
proper  regulations,  to  accept  the  service  of  any  number  of 


CHAP.  VI.]  REMARKS  ON  ENLISTMENT.  109 

volunteers,  not  exceeding  fifty  thousand;  to  be  organized, 
trained,  and  held  in  readiness  to  act  on  such  service  as  the 
exigencies  of  the  Government  may  require. 

"  4th.  That  the  President  be  authorized  to  order  out,  from 
time  to  time,  detachments  of  the  militia,  as  in  his  opinion 
the  public  service  may  require. 

"  5th.  That  all  the  vessels  not  now  in  service,  belonging  to 
the  Navy,  and  worthy  of  repair,  be  immediately  fitted  up 
and  put  in  commission. 

"  6th.  That  it  is  expedient  to  permit  our  merchant  vessels, 
owned  exclusively  by  resident  citizens,,  and  commanded 
and  navigated  solely  by  citizens,  to  arm,  under  proper  reg- 
ulations, to  be  prescribed  by  law,  in  self-defence,  against 
all  unlawful  proceedings  towards  them  on  the  high  seas." 

The  report  led  to  an  animated  debate,  (December  12th,) 
during  which,  the  question  being  on  agreeing  to  the  second 
resolution, 

Mr.  Troup  rose  to  make  an  effort  to  put  an  end  to  the 
debate ;  a  debate  in.  which  the  great  mass  of  the  House 
were  enlisted  on  one  side,  against  the  solitary  gentleman 
from  Virginia  (Mr.  Eandolph)  on  the  other.  I  trust,  sir, 
the  period  has  arrived  when  the  House  will  feel  itself 
bound,  by  the  imperious  calls  of  the  country,  to  act,  and  to 
act  promptly.  I  am  ready  to  go  heart  and  hand  with  the 
advocates  of  the  resolution  ;  all  I  ask  is,  that  they  will  lead 
with  prudence  and  discretion ;  deliberate  when  deliberation 
is  useful,  act  when  action  is  necessary.  But,  if  the  spirit  of 
debate,  as  in  former  times,  has  seized  upon  us  ;  if  idle  ver- 
biage and  empty  vociferation  are  to  take  the  place  of 
manly  and  energetic  conduct,  I  enter,  at  this  early  stage  of 
the  proceeding,  my  solemn  protest.  I  cannot,  I  will  not, 
share  the  responsibility  of  this  ruinous  course.  Indeed,  sir, 
so  conscious  do  I  feel  of  the  evil — nay,  of  the  danger  to  the 
country,  from  the  course  which  has  been  adopted,  I  shall 
be  constrained  to  call  for  the  previous  question,  unless  my 
friends  shall  interpose  the  more  pleasant  corrective,  their 
own  good  sense,  to  stop  it.  I  know,  sir,  they  have  been 
impelled  by  the  most  honorable  sentiments,  the  most  gen- 
erous passions,  patriotism,  honor,  zeal  for  their  country, 
rage  against  her  oppressors.  They  are  good  reasoners,  they 
are  eloquent — but  of  what  avail  is  argument,  of  what  avail 
is  eloquence,  to  convince,  to  persuade,3whorn  ?  Ourselves, 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTTP.  [Crur.  VI. 

the  people  ?  Sir,  if  the  people  arc  to  bo  reasoned  into  a 
war  now,  it  is  too  soon,  much  too  soon,  to  begin  it.  If  their 
Eepresentatives  here  are  to  be  led  to  it  by  the  ^  flowers  of 
rhetoric,  it  is  too  soon,  much  too  soon,  to  begin  it. 

When  the  honorable  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of 
Foreign  Relations  (Mr.  Porter,)  reported  the  resolutions,  I 
had  hoped  he  would  have  made  a  motion  to  go  into  con- 
clave, or,  -if  that  had  not  been  deemed  advisable,  that  at 
least  the  resolutions,  when  taken  up  with  open  doors,  would 
have  been  treated  as  a  system  of  defensive  measures  called 
for  by  the  exigency  of  the  times,  and  affording  no  just 
ground  of  complaint  to  any  Power  which  might  please  to 
consider  itself  the  object  of  them.  Such  a  course  would 
have  been  not  less  consistent  witli  the  report  of  the  com- 
mittee itself,  than  with  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  Presi- 
dent's Message.  The  President  himself  would  have  been 
fortified  by  it.  When  the  British  Minister  called,  as  he 
undoubtedly  will,  upon  the  President,  to  demand  the  causes 
of  these  warlike  preparations,  he  might  have  been  answer- 
ed :  Sir,  they  are  no  other  than  what  they  purport  on  the 
face  of  them  to  be,  a  system  of  defence  on  the  part  of  the 
American  Government,  called  for  by  the  state  of  the  world  ; 
or,  if  he  pleased,  he  might  have  said,  called  for  by  the 
attitude  which  his  Britannic  Majesty  had  assumed,  the 
propriety  of  which  no  nation  had  a  right  to  question. 
But,  instead  of  this,  what  had  been  doMi  Why,  at  the 
very  outset,  we  have  been  told  the  measures  were  intend- 
ed as  measures  of  offensive  hostility :  that  the  army  was 
to  be  raised  to  attack  Canada;  nothing  short  of  it ;  all 
the  advocates  of  the  resolution  declared  it.  Now,  sir, 
could  a  more  public  or  formal  declaration  of  war  have 
been  made?  Contrary  to  the  practice  of  all  nations, 
we  declare  first  and  make  preparation  afterward.  More 
magnanimous  than  wise,  we  tell  the  enemy  when  we 
will  strike,  where  we  will  strike,  and  how  we  will 
strike!  Do  we  mean  a  mere  bravado  ?  Impossible.  No 
man  who  knows  the  advocates  of  the  resolutions  would  sus- 
pect it ;  but  we  hope  the  enemy  will  recede ;  he  may ;  but 
if  he  should  not,  let  gentlemen  look  to  the  consequences  ; 
let  them  look  well  to  the  character  of  that  enemy  :  is  he 
feeble,  spiritless,  destitute  of  resources,  without  coura-'t-, 
without  honor  ?  No,  sir ;  with  two  hundred  and  iifty 
thousand  regulars  and  all  the  munitions  of  war  in  store,  his 
fleets  and  transports  manned,  equipped  and  provisioned ; 
their  sails  bent  to  every  wind,  they  ask  but  one  hundred 
and  twenty  days  to  reinforce  Quebec,  to  fortify  Montreal, 


CHAP.  VI.]  REMARKS  ON  ENLISTMENT. 

to  gain  the  passes  into  Canada,  to  march  the  supernumera- 
ries to  Boston.  Here  we  sit  in  idle  debate.  Sir,  I  do 
contend,  most  seriously,  that  ten  thousand  regulars  can 
inarch  to  Boston  in  defiance  of  the  militia  of  Massachusetts, 
well  armed  and  organized  as  I  know  them  to  be.  ISTow, 
sir,  suppose  this  should  happen,  and  more  wonderful  things 
have  happened,  what  will  be  said  ?  What  will  my  friend 
from  Virginia  say  to  the  first  victims  of  the  war?  Why, 
he  will  say,  "  This  is  no  war  of  mine ;  I  exerted  all  my 
strength  to  turn  these  people  from  their  mad  and  desperate 
career  ! "  The  gentleman  from  Virginia  exonerates  him- 
self from  all  responsibility  by  the  very  act  of  opposition ; 
but,  what  can  be  said  of  us,  the  advocates  of  the  resolution, 
to  whom  all  responsibility  attaches?  That  "we  had  not 
finished  our  war  speeches !  " — that  "  we  could  not  begin 
to  raise  men  until  we  had  finished  them !  "  Sir,  believe 
me,  the  people  of  this  country  want  no  such  speeches ;  they 
will  go  for  war,  because  they  believe  war  is  necessary  to 
the  preservation  of  their  honor  and  substantial  interest; 
they  want  men  and  arms  to  defend  them — not  words.  If 
gentlemen  persevere  in  the  debate,  I  will  call  the  previous 
question.  The  safety  of  the  state,  after  what  has  been  said 
and  done,  demand  it,  and  all  considerations  must  yield  to 
that. 

The  resolutions  were  all  afterwards  carried,  (the  first 
having  been  previously  adopted,)  and  a  bill  or  bills  ordered 
to  be  brought  in,  pursuant  to  the  sixth  resolution.  On  the 
2d  of  January,  1812,  a  bill  from  the  Senate,  "  to  raise  an 
additional  military  force,"  being  before  the  House,  and 
an  amendment  having  been  offered, 

Mr.  Troup  observed  that,  if  it  were  found,  some  time 
hence,  that  25,000  men  were  unnecessary,  Congress  could 
at  once  say  that  only  a  certain  part  should  be  raised.  It 
had,  in  his  opinion,  been  correctly  said  that  if  we  do  not 
want  25,000  men,  we  do  not  want  one  man.  Can  the  gen- 
tleman from  Pennsylvania  (Mr.  Smilie,  the  mover  of  the 
amendment,)  doubt  that  5,000  men  will  be  wanted  for  the 
defence  of  New  Orleans  ?  And  is  it  not  stated  by  the  Sec- 
retary of  War,  that  12,000  men  will  be  wanted  for  the 
fortifications  on  our  seaboard,  exclusive  of  the  aid  to  be 
derived  from  the  militia,  which  takes  17,000  out  of  the 
25,000  men  ?  And  is  there  a  man,  who  has  a  knowledge 
of  military  affairs,  who  would  be  willing  to  sit  down  before 


LIFE  OF  GEOKGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciup,  VI. 

the  Gibraltar  of  America,  Quebec,  with  less  than  '20,000 
men  ?  In  his  mind,  however,  the  capture  of  Halifax  would 
be  more  important  than  Quebec,  as  from  thence  may  be 
expected  the  chief  attacks  upon  our  commerce  ;  but  Hali- 
fax could  not  be  taken  until  Quebec  was  first  secured.  He 
could  see  no  reason  for  adopting  the  amendment. 

On  the  9th  of  the  same  month,  a  question  being  before 
the  House  on  receding  from  some  amendments  (in  regard 
to  appointment  of  officers,)  to  which  the  Senate  would  not 
agree, 

Mr.  Troup  was  in  favor  of  receding,  because,  in  doing  so, 
he  believed  the  raising  of  the  troops  would  be  expedited  ; 
for,  if  two  hundred  officers  could  raise  ten  thousand  men  in 
a  given  time,  four  hundred  officers  could  raise  twenty 
thousand  in  the  same  time.  He  could  not  help  replying  to 
a  remark  of  the  gentleman  from  Pennsylvania,  (Mr.  Smilie) 
that  gentlemen  were  all  for  economy.  Mr.  T.  was  not  for 
a  war  of  economy,  but  a  war  of  vigor.  All  wars  are  ne- 
cessarily expensive.  The  more  feeble  and  protracted  they 
are,  the  greater  will  be  the  expense  ;  and  the  expense  is 
less,  in  proportion,  as  they  are  short  and  vigorous.  If  we 
are  not  to  have  an  energetic  war,  let  us  have  no  war.  He 
believed  the  resources  of  the  country  are  adequate  to  any 
war.  Compare  the  situation  of  the  country  with  what  it 
was  in  1775.  Our  population  now  consists  of  seven  mil- 
lions of  active,  enterprising  individuals,  carrying  on  a  com- 
merce second  only  to  one  nation  in  the  world  ;  then,  our 
population  was  only  three  millions,  with  a  feeble  colonial 
commerce,  and  the  people  miserably  poor  in  everything 
but  a  spirit  of  liberty.  What  did  they  do1  (  If  gentlemen 
will  recur  to  the  Journals  of  that  day,  they  will  discover 
that,  when  Congress  had  a  formidable  army  ready  to  inarch, 
they  had  not  a  uollar  of  revenue,  and  the  people  were  too 
indigent  to  raise  money.  Congress  had  to  issue  bills  of 
credit  to  the  amount  of  two  millions  of  dollars.  If  it  be 
thought  we  cannot  raise  the  necessary  supplies,  we  had 
better  do  at  once,  what,  perhaps,  we  shall  find  it  necessary 
to  do,  if  we  refuse  to  recede  from  these  amendments  — 


[1812.]  The  bill  to  authorize  the  President  to  accept  and 
organize  certain  volunteer  corps,  being  before  the  House  on 
the  llth  of  January,  a  question  arose  as  to  the  power  of  the 
President  to  employ  this  force  out  of  the  limits  of  the 
United  States.  Col.  Troup  spoke  as  follows  : 


CHAP.  VI.]  REMARKS  ON  TEE  MILITIA. 

Mr.  Troup  said,  it  was  evidently  an  object  with  the  Con- 
vention who  formed  the  Constitution,  to  repress,  as  much 
as  possible,  in  the  new  government,  the  power  of  making 
conquests.  History  had  informed  them  that  conquests  had 
always  been  injurious  to  every  country  which  had  engaged 
in  making  them ;  they,  therefore,  by  their  provisions,  en- 
deavored to  repress  this  spirit.  They  say,  in  so  many 
words,  "  If  you  will  indulge  in  this  spirit  of  conquest, 
which  has  been  the  bane  of  every  nation  which  has  indulged 
in  it,  you  shall  carry  it  on  by  an  army,  and  an  army 
only."  And  why  ?  Because  an  army  could  only  be  raised 
by  putting  the  country  to  great  expense,  and  this  was  the 
limitation  which  the  Convention  thought  proper  to  put  to 
the  spirit  of  conquest.  A  large  army,  maintained  for  this 
purpose,  would  be  viewed  with  jealousy  by  the  people  of 
the  United  States ;  and  of  this  the  members  of  the  Conven- 
tion were  well  aware.  There  was,  on  the  face  of  the  Con- 
stitution, Mr.  T.  said,  an  obvious  distinction  made  between 
the  Army  and  the  militia.  Power  is  given  to  Congress  to 
raise  armies.  For  what  purposes  ?  For  all  military  pur- 
poses. Congress  shall  have  power  to  call  out  the  militia. 
For  what  purposes  ?  To  suppress  insurrections,  execute  the 
laws,  and  repel  invasions.  If  it  had  been  the  design  of 
the  Convention  to  have  given  Congress  the  same  power 
over  the  militia  as  over  the  Army,  would  they  not  have 
said  so  in  express  terms  ?  But  there  was  -another  good 
reason  for  withholding  this  power  from  Congress.  The 
States  relied  upon  the  militia  for  their  protection  against 
any  attempt  at  usurpation  by  the  General  Government. 
If  gentlemen  will  turn  to  one  of  the  amendments  of  the 
Constitution,  they  will  find  it  declared,  "  that  a  well  regu- 
lated militia  is  necessary  to  the  security  of  a  free  State." 

But  there  is  another  wide  distinction  between  the  Army 
and  militia,  from  the  different  characters  of  the  persons 
who  compose  the  two  bodies.  What  are  the  militia  ?  They 
are  yeomanry ;  citizens  of  the  country,  called  from  their 
homes  and  their  families,  in  cases  of  emergency,  for  the 
defence  of  their  country.  Would  it  be  reasonable  to  vest 
the  power  in  Congress  to  carry  these  men  from  their  homes 
and  their  families,  for  foreign  invasion  or  foreign  conquest  ? 
It  could  not  have  been  the  intention  of  the  Convention  that 
these  men  might  be  shipped  off  against  Jamaica  or  Yera 
Cruz — for  if,  by  any  construction  of  the  Constitution,  the 
militia  can  be  sent  one  foot  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
United  States,  they  might  be  sent  to  Chili  or  Paraguay. 

15 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CflAr.  VI. 

If,  then,  the  militia  cannot  be  sent  out  of  the  country, 
and  these  volunteers  are  militia,  neither  can  they  be  so 
disposed  of.  But  are  they  militia  ?  He  did  not  know  how 
they  could  be  distinguished  from  them.  They  now  form  a 
part  of  the  militia,  under  the  officers  of  the  respective 
States,  and  they  are  so  to  remain.  They  are,  therefore, 
volunteer  militia,  and  nothing  else. 

But  gentlemen  say,  these  volunteers  can  be  marched  out 
of  the  country  by  their  own  consent.  "Will  consent  make 
any  difference  ?  "Will  it  make  an  act  of  government  const  i- 
tutional,  which,  without  it,  would  be  unconstitutional  ( 
The  government  of  the  United  States  and  these  volunteers 
are  not  the  only  parties  concerned.  The  people  of  the 
United  States  were  the  makers  of  the  Constitution,  and  not 
these  individuals  and  the  General  Government ;  and  the 
respective  States  cannot  surrender  their  militia,  which  they 
have  a  right  to  hold  for  their  own  security. 

But  the  gentleman  from  the  State  of  Maryland,  (Mr. 
"Wright,)  says,  that  the  militia  may  be  called  out  by  the 
General  Government  to  execute  the  laws  ;  that  the  Presi- 
dent may  be  authorized  to  take  possession  of  Canada  by 
law,  and  that  the  militia  may  be  called  upon  to  execute 
this  law.  This,  he  considered  as  an  unfounded  construction 
of  the  Constitutional  provision.  It  was  surely  never  meant 
that  the  militia  should  be  called  upon  to  execute  the  laws 
without  the  Union,  but  within  it.  The  law  alluded  to  by 
the  gentleman  would  be  a  declaration  of  war,  and  not  a 
law  of  the  Union,  for  the  execution  of  which  the  President 
has  power  given  to  him  to  call  out  the  militia. 

If  the  militia  can  be  called  out  to  repel  invasion,  they 
can  be  called  out  to  the  seaboard  or  garrisons,  for  the  pur- 
pose of  repelling  invasion,  whenever  well-founded  appre- 
hensions are  entertained  of  such  an  event ;  and  it  they  go 
beyond  the  territory,  it  would  be  no  less  an  act  of  repelling 
invasion  than  was  the  first  onset. 

If,  said  Mr.  T.,  these  volunteers  are  to  be  organized  as 
regular  troops,  not  for  five  years,  like  the  other  regulars. 
but  for  one  year,  then  whatever  men  enter  the  service  of 
the  country,  will  go  into  this  corps  ;  and  the  arm}-  provided 
by  law  to  be  raised,  would  not  be  enlisted. 

Mr.  T.  was  willing  to  authorize  the  President  to  accept 
of  the  service  of  fifty  thousand  volunteers  for  the  defence 
of  the  country,  under  the  bill  as  it  now  stands,  which  would 
leave  the  government  at  liberty  to  send  the  regular  troops 
abroad,  if  they  found  it  necessary  to  do  so. 


CHAP.  VI.]  DECLARATION   OF  WAR. 

Imperfectly  reported  as  these  speeches  probably  were, 
they  serve  to  show  the  consistency,  foresight  and  patriotism 
of  their  author.  From  the  first,  he  had  looked  to  the  con- 
tingency of  war  as  not  only  probable,  but  highly  so ;  he  had 
been  opposed  to  a  temporizing  policy ;  he  had  denounced 
the  non-intercourse  system  as  futile,  and  calculated  to  bring 
the  country  into  contempt  with  her  enemies ;  and  now 
that  war -was  inevitable,  he  was  in  favor  of  an  immediate 
preparation  for  and  vigorous  prosecution  of  it.  When  the 
shock  came,  and  the  roar  of  the  battle  drowned  the  clamor 
of  foes  and  hushed  the  feeble  voices  of  the  timid  advocates 
of  the  nation's  honor,  his  voice  and  his  example  served,  in 
the  din  of  the  conflict,  to  give  confidence  to  the  brave,  and 
to  animate  the  drooping  courage  of  his  countrymen. 

[1812.]  In  addition  to  other  speeches  which  he  made 
during  this  session,  Col.  Troup  spoke  at  length,  on  30th 
April,  in  favor  of  a  bill  to  appoint  Assistant  Secretaries 
of  War.  In  concluding  his  speech,  he  said :  "no  man 
in  the  country  is  equal  to  one  half  the  duties  which  de- 
volve on  the  present  Secretary.''  The  bill  passed  the 
House,  but  was  afterwards  indefinitely  postponed  in  the 
Senate. 

President  Madison  sent  in  to  Congress,  his  "  War  Mes- 
sage," on  the  1st  day  of  June.  After  reciting  the  wrongs 
under  which  the  United  States  had  suffered,  the  message 
proceeded:  "Whether  the  United  States  shall  continue 
passive  under  these  progressive  usurpations  and  these  ac- 
cumulating wrongs,  or,  opposing  force  to  force  in  defence 
of  their  national  rights,  shall  commit  a  just  cause  into  the 
hands  of  the  Almighty  disposer  of  events,  avoiding  all 
connections  which  might  entangle  it  in  the  contests  or  views 
of  other  powers,  and  preserving  a  constant  readiness  to 
concur  in  an  honorable  re-establishment  of  peace  and 
friendship,  is  a  solemn  question  which  the  Constitution 
wisely  confides  to  the  legislative  department  of  the  Govern- 
ment," &c.,  &c. 

On  the  4th  day  of  June,  the  House,  by  a  vote  of  79  to 
49,  passed  a  bill  declaring  war  between  Great  Britain  and 


LIFE  OF  GEOEGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VI. 

the  United  States.  It  passed  the  Senate,  with  amendments,  on 
the  17th;  the  amendments  were  concurred  in  by  the  House 
on  the  18th,  and  on  the  same  day  the  bill  became  a  law  by 
the  signature  of  the  President  to  it. 

On  the  6th  of  July,  the  first  session  of  the  Twelfth  Con- 
gress terminated  by  the  adjournment  of  both  Houses. 

We  here  present  to  the  reader  a  letter  written  by  Col. 
Troup  to  Gov.  Mitchell,  dated 

WASHINGTON,  Gth  Sept.,  1812. 

Dear  Sir  :  I  arrived  here  yesterday.  The  President  is 
on  a  visit  of  a  week  to  his  country  seat. 

Col.  Monroe,  with  whom  I  conversed,  yesterday,  on  our 
Georgia  affairs,  assures  me  you  shall  be  supported.  The 
negotiation  for  Florida,  at  which  I  hinted  when  I  saw 
you,  is  not  relinquished,  and  hope  is  still  indulged  from  it. 
Take  no  notice  of  the  order  of  the  Secretary  to  Col.  Smith. 
Though  acknowledged  to  be  irregular,  Col.  Monroe  insists 
it  was  inadvertent.* 

Mathews  and have  not  yet   arrived. 

Hull,  with  a  superior  force  well  armed  and  provisioned,  sur- 
rendered in  a  most  dastardly  manner.at  a  time  when  he  had 
the  power  to  make  himself  master  of  Upper  Canada.  He 
might  have  taken  Maiden  at  any  day  between  his  departure 
from  and  return  to  Detroit.  The  "British  would  have  sur- 
rendered after  a  show  of  resistance.  Harrison  and  Win- 
chester will  speedily  recover  the  lost  ground. 

With  high  consideration  and  sincere  friendship, 

G.  M.  TKOUI-. 

His  Excellency  Gov.  Mitchell, 
Milledgeville,    Georgia. 

[1812.]  The  second  session  of  the  Twelfth  Congress  be- 
gan on  the  20th  day  of  November.  On  the  Gth  of  that 
month,  Col.  Troup  was  appointed  second  on  the  House 

*  lliia  portion  of  the  above  letter  refer*,  probably,  to  the  part  which  Gov.  Mitchell  took,  at 
the  instance  of  the  President  of  the  United  Stu;  , -ure  from  the  niitii 

of  East  Florida — then  in  a  state  of  supposed  revolution,  growing  out  of  the  "  ]>:itric,t'!  diffi- 
culties—the  annexation  of  that  proving  •  < 

appointed  for  that  purpose,  had  been  superseded,  on  the  ground   of  an   alleged   excess 
powers  confided  to  him,  and  Gov.  Mitchell  was  put  in  !  at  once  pro- 

Mary's  for  the  purpose  of  negotiation.    In  his   messi^e  <,|   '  "On 

my  arrival  at  that  place,  I  found  the  progress  of  the  revolution  stopped  before  St.  An-ii-tin.'. 
the  patriots  being  unable  alone  to  attack  thnt  formidable  post,  and  the  American  troops  n  •>( 
permitted  to  act  on  the  offensive.  In  a  short  time  I  >  \ufli 

the  instructions  I  had  received,  and  a  correspondence  between  the  person  then   :i.  , 
ernor,  and  myself,  commenced,  which,  however,  soon  terminated,  in  const  .-i.au- 


CHAP.  VL]  REMARKS  ON  ENLISTING  MINORS. 

committee  to  which  so  much  of  the  President's  message  as 
related  to  the  militia,  volunteers  and  the  Army  of  the 
United  States,  &c.,  was  referred. 

On  the  19th,  Mr.  Williams,  of  South  Carolina,  chairman 
of  the  committee,  reported  "  a  bill  concerning  the  pay  of 
the  non-commissioned  officers,  musicians,  privates  and  oth- 
ers of  the  Army  of  the  United  States,  and  for  other  pur- 
poses." The  third  section  of  the  bill  was  as  follows: 
"  That,  during  the  said  war,  every  person  above  the  age  of 
eighteen  years,  who  shall  be  enlisted  by  an  officer,  shall  be 
held  in  the  Army  of  the  United  States  during  the  period  of 
such  enlistment ;  anything  in  any  act  to  the  contrary  not- 
withstanding." On  the  20th,  the  House  being  in  com- 
mittee of  the  whole,  a  motion  was  made  to  strike  out  the 
third  section — the  principal  grounds  of  objection  to  it  be- 
ing that  the  enlistment  of  minors  tended  to  violate  the  pub- 
lic morals — that  it  interfered  with  public  economy — and 
violated  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution.  In  reply  to  these 
arguments, 

Mr.  Troup  said,  the  objections  to  this  provision  were  lame 
in  their  nature  ;  he  only  wished  they  were  half  as  sound 
as  they  were  novel.  It  was  the  result  of  the  experience 
of  men  older  than  themselves  in  military  concerns,  that 
this  very  description  of  population,  between  eighteen  and 
twenty-one,  constituted  the  strength  and  vigor  of  every 
war.  What  was  the  fact  as  respected  France  ?  So  just 
was  this  principle  in  the  contemplation  of  France,  that  her 
whole  army  is  made  up  of  these  young  men ;  and  yet  an 
attempt  is  made  to  deter  us  from  using  them,  by  a  flimsy 
pretext,  that  to  employ  them  would  be  violating  the  obliga- 
tions of  a  contract  and  the  principles  of  morality.  If  our 
feelings  and  sympathies  be  suffered  to  influence  us  in  favor 
of  the  individual  who  voluntarily  enlists,  the  reasons  are 
much  stronger  in  favor  of  discharging  one  half  of  those 
already  in  your  ranks,  than  the  description  just  spoken  of. 

iard  preferring  the  application  of  force  to  remove  tho  American  troops,  which  he  actually 
tried  on  the  16th  May,  to  the  more  tedious  operation  of  having  it  done  by  negotiation  in  a 
peaceful  manner.  The  experiment,  however,  did  not  succeed,  and  the  troops  kept  their 
ground." 

Col.  Smith  was  tho  commander  of  the  American  forces,  and  these  forces  were  not  with- 
drawn for  some  tune  after.  It  would  appear,  from  Col.  Troup's  letter,  that  Gov.  Mathews 
was  alive  at  its  date,  although  it  is  stated  in  Gov.  Gilmer's  work,  "  Georgians,1'  that  he  died  at 
Augusta,  March,  1812,  '•'  whilst  on  his  way  to  Washington  city  to  thrash  tho  President. — ED- 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  {CHAP.  VI. 

There  is  scarcely  any  man  over  the  age  of  twenty-one  years, 
between  whom  and  other  individuals  there  is  not  some 
strong  obligatory  moral  tie,  which  we  ought  not  to  sever 
if  we  could  conveniently  avoid  it.  Look  at  the  case  of  a 
husband  deserting  his  wife  and  children,  or  of  a  man, 
above  twenty-one,  deserting  his  aged  parent,  dependent  on 
him  for  subsistence.  Are  not  these  cases  equally  strong  ? 
The  doctrine  of  the  gentleman,  whether  on  the  score  of 
morality  or  expediency,  will  apply  to  cases  above  as  well 
as  below  the  age  of  twenty-one.  As  respects  the  young 
men  of  our  country,  there  is  no  fact  better  established  than 
that,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  they  are,  as  respects  physical 
power,  as  well  qualified  for  the  fatigues  of  the  camp,  as  in 
other  countries  at  twenty-one.  Their  services  are  more 
valuable  than  those  of  any  other  class,  and  lie  was  not 
willing  to  dispense  with  them  when  we  had  the  greatest 
occasion  for  them. 

On  the  21st,  he  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  TROUP. — If  a  stranger  in  the  gallery  had  listened  t«> 
the  member  from  Massachusetts,  (Mr.  Quincy,)  he  would 
have  supposed  that  the  provision  of  the  bill  against 
which  the  gentleman's  anathemas  were  most  vehemently 
leveled,  authorized  the  recruiting  sergeant  to  enter  the 
house  of  the  citizen,  drag  from  it  the  young  man,  and  trans- 
port him,  loaded  with  chains,  (as  is  said  to  be  the  practice 
of  one  nation  of  Europe,)  to  the  armies.  Who  would 
have  supposed  that  the  provision  merely  authorized 
the  recruiting  sergeant  to  accept  the  voluntary  service  of 
the  young  man,  between  eighteen  and  twenty-one  ?  The 
service  due  to  the  country,  prior  in  point  of  time,  para- 
mount in  obligation,  must  yield,  says  the  gentleman,  to  the 
service  due  to  the  master,  the  parent,  ro  the  guardian.  If, 
sir,  in  the  days  of  Rome's  greatness,  if  in  the  proud  days 
of  Grecian  glory,  the  man  could  have  been  found  ha<e 
and  hardy  enough  to  withhold  the  young  men  from  the 
public  service,  to  turn  them  from  the  path  of  honor,  or  to  re- 
strain them  from  the  field  of  fame,  he  would  have  been 
hurled  from  the  Tarpeian  Eock  or  consigned  to  the  Cave 
of  Trophonius.  The  young  man  is  preferred  here,  not  be- 
caiise  he  is  preferred  in  France,  but  because  his  physical 
constitution  and  his  moral  temperament  peculiarly 
qualify  him  for  the  arduous  duties  of  the  field  and  camp'; 
bodily  vigor  and  activity,  ardor,  enterprise,  impetuosity; 
without  family,  and  therefore  without  the  cares  which 
family  involve :  No  wife,  no  helpless  children.  Without 


CHAP.  VI-1  ENLISTMENT  OP  MINORS.  119 

-  care,  but  for  his  country  ;  without  fear,  but  for  her  dishon- 
or ;  he  is  most  eminently  qualified  for  the  duties  of  the 
camp  and  the  field  ;  all  experience  has  proved  it. 

But  the  gentleman  is  not  content  with  opposing  himself 
to  the  patriotism  of  the  young  men ;  he  is  not  less  opposed 
to  the  increase  of  pay.  Mr.  T.  thought,  from  the  conduct  of 
the  House  the  other  day,  that  the  provision  had  been  uni- 
versally approved.  He  was  the  more  surprised  at  the  op- 
position of  the  gentleman,  because  it  was  this  provision  of 
the  bill  which  meant  to  eradicate  that  vice  and  immorality 
of  the  Army,  which  the  gentleman  affected  so  much  to  de- 
plore. The  increase  of  pay  had  two  objects,  the  filling  the 
ranks,  and  the  general  respectability  of  the  Army.  The 
recruiting  service  had  suddenly  stopped;  it  stopped 
only  because  all  the  men  which  were  to  be  had  for  sixteen 
dollars  bounty,  and  five  dollars  and  one  hundred  and  sixty 
acres  of  land,  were  already  picked  up  ;  to  get  more,  noth- 
ing could  be  done  but  to  increase  the  pay  ;  the  quantum  of 
increase  was  the  only  question.  The  difficulty  of  enlisting 
men  was  not  peculiar  to  us ;  it  was  felt  by  every  nation. 
Military  wages  bore  no  equitable  proportion  to  the  ordinary 
wages  of  the  country.  In  the  stronger  and  more  despotic 
governments  of  Europe^  force  was  resorted  to ;  in  the  more 
mild  and  moderate,  stratagem  and  fraud  and  trick.  Who 
had  not  heard  of  the  tricks  of  recruiting  sergeants  ?  Un- 
der our  own  government,  enlistments,  to  be  lawful, must  be 
fair  and  free  and  voluntary ;  hence,  the  only  remedy  left  us 
was  increase  of  pay.  But  the  filling  of  the  ranks  was  by 
no  means  the  most  important  object.  The  increase  of  the 
general  respectability  of  the  Army  was  of  infinitely  more 
importance.  The  regular  service  had  been  brought  into 
universal  disrepute  in  the  country.  The  cause  is  obvious  ; 
it  was  the  five  dollars  per  month,  and  nothing  else.  There 
was  nothing  ignominious  or  disgraceful  in  the  nature  of  the 
employment ;  on  the  contrary,  it  is  honorable,  it  inspires 
honorable  sentiments.  Ask  the  farmer  why  he  does  not 
encourage  his  son  to  enlist  in  the  service  of  his  country  ? 
He  answers  at  once,  that  he  can  make  ten  dollars  a  month 
on  the  farm  ;  that  if  he  has  honesty  and  industry,  anybody 
will  hire  him  for  ten  dollars.  Can  there  be  any  doubt  that, 
by  increasing  the  pay,  you  will  increase  the  numbers  of 
the  Army  ?  Not  only  so ;  in  the  exact  proportion  as  you  in- 
crease the  pay,  will  you  increase  the  respectability.  It  is 
self-evident.  Suppose,  instead  of  sixty  dollars,  or  ninety 
dollars  a  year,  you  would  agree  to  give  them  five  thousand 
dollars,  there  is  no  doubt  your  ranks  would  soon  be  filled. 


120  L*FE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VI. 

You  would  have  the  silk-stocking  gentry,  (I  do  not  know  that 
the  Army  would  be  much  better  for  that,)  you  would  chance 
to  have  a  few  members  of  Congress,  perhaps  a  Secretary 
of  State,  perhaps  an  ex-President ;  you  would  at  least  enlist 
honesty  and  industry.  I  say,  sir,  the  increase  of  the  re- 
spectability of  the  Army  at  this  moment  is  of  infinite-  im- 
portance. With  every  disposition  to  rely  on  the  militia  for 
defence  and  offence,  we  are  not  permitted  to  do  so  ;  the 
militia  are  withheld  by  s&me  of  the  States.  The  gentle- 
man and  his  friends  have  withheld  the  militia  of  Massa- 
chusetts; he  would  now  withhold  the  regulars.  Give 
character  and  respectability  to  the  Army,  and  when,  in  a 
spirit  of  jealousy  or  disaffection,  or  treason,  the  militia 
should  be  withheld,  you  are  still  independent ;  you  are  still 
a  government  for  all  the  objects  of  government.  If  Mas- 
sachusetts and  Connecticut — but  I  forbear. 

On  the  30th  of  December,  the  House  being  in  commit- 
tee of  the  whole  on  the  bill  to  raise  an  additional  military 
force,  and  a  proposition  being  made  to  postpone  the  fur- 
ther consideration  of  it, 

Mr.  Troup  said,  he  would  have  no  objection  to  grant  the 
postponement  asked  by  the  gentlemen,  (Messrs.  Gold  and 
Quincy,)  if  their  object  was  consistent  with  that  of  the 
committee.  The  object  of  the  committee  was  to  combine 
a  union  of  council  and  energy  of  action  in  favor  of  the 
war.  The  next  campaign  must  be  opened  with  vigor,  and 
prosecuted  to  success.  With  this  view,  the  committee  had 
presented  a  system ;  gentlemen  might,  if  they  pleased,  call 
it  a  system  of  the  Executive.  They  submitted  it  to  the 
House,  not  as  the  very  best  which  it  was  possible  for  hu- 
man ability  to  devise,  but  the  best  which,  under  all  circum- 
stances, they^were  able  to  present :  they  asked  gentlemen 
on  the  opposite  side,  to  take  it,  not  word  for  word,  as  it  was 
submitted,  but  to  take  it  for  as  much  as  it  was  worth;  to 
amend  it  if  defective;  to  substitute  one  in  lieu  of  it  if 
radically  wrong.  Their  argument  would  be  listened  to 
with  pleasure— their  amendment  or  substitute  respectfully 
considered.  But  the  motion  to  postpone  was  inadmissible, 
because  the  motive  was  incorrect  ;  procrastination  in  the 
present  state  of  the  country  was  death.  Gentlemen  would 
neither  amend  the  system  with  a  view  to  make  it  better, 
nor  would  they  substitute  one  in  lieu  of  it.  They  were 
opposed  to  the  war  ;  they  disavowed  any  responsibility  for, 
its  origin,  progress  or  consequences— it  was  a  war  of  wicked- 


CHAP.  VI.]  SPEECH  ON  THE  ARMY  BILL.  121 

ness  against  innocence.  Gentlemen  had  expressly  said  so ; 
they  would  not  give  you  a  dollar  or  a  man  to  carry  it  on. 
Yet  are  we  asked  to  postpone  the  bill — to  hear  the  argu- 
ment— to  risk  the  loss  of  another  campaign.  If  there  be 
anything  which  can  endanger  the  system,  it  is  delay.  A 
week  or  a  day  is  of  great  importance.  It  is  a  Parliamen- 
tary rule,  that  he  who  is  radically  opposed  to  a  bill  shall 
not  amend  it.  It  is  a  good  rule  that  he  who  is  opposed  to 
the  war  shall  not  plan  the  campaign.  A  gentleman  on  the 
other  side  of  the  House,  (Mr.  Potter,)  had  said,  in  a  spirit  of 
frankness  and  candor  which  did  him  honor,  that,  having 
opposed  the  war,  he  was  opposed  to  the  ways  and  means 
of  conducting  it,  and  therefore  to  any  object  of  expenditure 
connected  with  it — to  a  navy,  an  army  and  everything 
else.  He  was  happy  to  find,  however,  that  there  were 
some  gentlemen  on  the  same  side  of  the  House  who  would 
not  act  with  him ;  who  would  not  sacrifice  the  country  to 
the  passions  of  party.  Mr.  T.  only  asked  that  the  majority, 
to  whom  the  responsibility  attached,  should  be  permitted 
to  proceed  in  furnishing  the  Executive  with  the  means  of 
conducting  the  war. 

But  the  most  considerable,  and  perhaps  the  ablest  speech 
which  Col.  Troup  delivered  during  and  in  defence  of  the 
war,  was  on  the  6th  of  January,  1813,  pending  the  discus- 
sion of  the  bill  just  noticed,  to  raise  an  additional  military 
force  of  20,000  men  for  one  year. 

He  spoke  as  follows : 

Mr.  Troup  said,  that  observations  had  fallen  from  certain 

fentlemen,  which  merited  reply  and  deserved  correction, 
'he  two  gentlemen  who  had  just  sat  down,  (Messrs.  Grundy 
and  Archer,)  had  noticed  some  of  those  observations  in  a 
handsome  manner,  and  had  given  the  appropriate  answer. 
There  yet  remained  some  points  which  it  would  be  proper 
to  notice  ;  it  was  the  comparative  decorum  with  which  they 
were  made  that  entitled  them  to  res'pect.  The  gentleman 
from  Connecticut,  (Mr.  Pit-kin,)  had  declared  that  this  gov- 
ernment had  insisted  in  past  time,  and  did  still  continue  to 
insist,  that  the  American  flag  should  cover  all  descriptions 
of  persons  sailing  under  it,  and  that  this  perseverance  in 
an  erroneous  principle  had  been 'the  cause  of  the  war,  and 
of  all  the  calamities  the  nation  had  suffered.  Mr.  T.  said, 
he  was  the  more  surprised  to  hear  a  round,  unqualified 
declaration  of  this  kind  from  the  gentleman,  because  he 
had  given  repeated  proofs  to  the  House  of  the  attention 
16 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  •    [CnAP.  VI. 

which  he  bestowed  on  the  public  documents,  and  the  assi- 
duity with  which  he  had  studied  them  ;  there  were  two  of 
them,  especially,  which  the  gentleman  must  have  read, 
and,  reading,  could  not  fail  to  have  remembered ;  one  of 
no  very  remote  date,  the  other  very  recent,  and  very  inter- 
esting; it  would  be  doing  injustice  to  the  gentleman  to  be- 
lieve they  were  not  strongly  imprinted  on  his  memory, 
did  both  those  documents  more  plainly  and  directly  con- 
tradict the  allegation  of 'the  gentleman.  Long  before  the 
period,  however,  to  which  I  refer,  Mr.  King,  our  Minister 
at  London,  had  written  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  "that,  on 
this  subject,  (viz.,  impressment.)  we  had  again  and  again 
offered  to  concur  in  a  convention,  which  we  thought  prac- 
ticable to  be  formed,  and  which  would  settle  these  questions 
in  a  manner  that  would  be  safe  for  England  and  satisfactory 
to  us."  (Letter  15th  March,  1799.)  The  first  document 
after  this  is  a  letter  of  instruction  from  the  Secretary  of 
State  to  Mr.  Monroe,  Minister  at  the  Court  of  St.  James 
dated  May  29th,  1807,  soon  after  the  failure  of  the  treaty 
concluded  by  himself  and  Mr.  Pinkney,  and  is  to  the  fol- 
lowing purport : 

"  It  is  agreed  that  after  the   term  of months, 

computed  from  the  exchange  of  ratifications,  and  during 
a  war  in  which  either  of  the  contracting  parties  may  be 
engaged,  neither  of  them  will  permit  any  seaman,  not  be- 
ing its  own  citizen  or  subject,  and  being  a  citizen  or  sub- 
ject of  the  other  party,  who  shall  not  have  been  for  two 
years  at  least,  prior  to  that  date,  constantly  and  voluntarily 
in  the  service  or  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  parties  re- 
spectively, to  enter  or  be  employed '  on  board  any  of  its 
vessels  navigating  the  high  seas  ;  and  proper  regulations, 
enforced  by  adequate  penalties,  shall  bo  mutually  estab- 
lished for  distinguishing  the  seamen  of  the  parties,  respec- 
tively, and  for  giving  fall  effect  to  this  stipulation." 

Here,  then,  is  documentary  evidence  that,  so  far  back  as 
the  year  1807,  the  American  government  had  tendered  to 
the  British  cabinet  a  proposition,  the  effect  of  which  was 
to  exempt  from  the  protection  of  the  American  flag,  or, 
what  is  the  same  thing,  to  exclude  from  the  American  ser- 
vice, every  description  of  persons, saving  American  native- 
born  and  naturalized  citizens.  Does  the  gentleman  insist 
that  the  naturalized  citizen  should  not  be  protected  ?  If 
he  does  not,  will  he  authorize  the  British  to  search  and  im- 
press, though  the  American  government  should  prohibit, 
by  all  the  penalties  of  law,  foreigners  of  any  description 
from  entering  into  the  service  of  her  merchant  vessels  4  Does 


GHAF.VI.]  REMARKS  ON  IMPRESSMENT.  123 

he  mean  that  we  shall  be  exposed  to  the  vexatious  practice 
of  search  and  impressment,  notwithstanding  the  govern- 
ment shall  do  everything  in  its  power  to  prevent  British 
subjects  from  entering  into  its  service  ?  But,  Mr.  Speak- 
er, if  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Monroe  did  not  go  far  enough 
for  the  gentleman,  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Russell  unques- 
tionably did.  Here  it  is : 

"  I  finally  offered,  in  order  to  answer  at  once  all  the  ob- 
servations and  inquiries  of  Lord  Castlereagh,  that  the  pro- 
posed understanding  should  be  expressed  in  the  most  gen- 
eral terms  ;  that  the  laws  to  take  effect  on  the  discontinu- 
ance of  the  practice  of  impressment,  should  prohibit  the 
employment  of  the  native  subjects  or  citizens  of  the  one 
State,  excepting  such  only  as  had  already  been  naturalized, 
on  board  the  private  or  public  ships  of  the  other ;  thus 
removing  any  objection  that  might  have  been  raised  with 
regard  to  the  future  effect  of  naturalization,  or  the  formal 
renunciation  of  any  pretended  right." 

The  effect  of  this  proposition  of  Mr.  Russell,  sir,  is  not 
only  the  exclusion  of  British  subjects  from  American  em- 
ploy, but  the  exclusion  of  British  subjects  who  may  in 
future  be  naturalized  in  the  United  States.  Hence,  our 
flag  would  have  covered  none  but  native  Americans,  and 
such  British  subjects  as  had  been  before  naturalized.  Hav- 
ing employed  the  power  of  the  country;  having  resorted 
to  all  the  pains  and  penalties  which  the  law  can  provide  to 
prohibit  this  description  of  persons  from  serving  on  board 
American  vessels ;  will  the  gentleman,  notwithstanding,  in- 
sist that  British  commanders  shall  enter  our  vessels  to  make 
search  for  seamen  ?  If,  notwithstanding  the  prohibition,  it 
were  permited  to  British  officers  to  make  search  for  sea- 
men, the  prohibition  had  better  not  be  made  ;  the  practice 
might  as  well  go  on  in  all  the  latitude  of  tyranny  and  op- 
pression which  has  distinguished  it. 

The  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  (Mr.  Pearson)  has 
been  pleased,  in  the  course  of  his  observations  on  this  sub- 
ject, to  offer  to  the  House  a  project  for  a  peace.  He  would 
have  the  Legislature  to  pass  laws  prohibiting  the  employ  of 
British  seamen  in  our  service,  leaving  the  President  to 
make  a  tender  of  those  laws,  through  fit  and  proper  charac- 
ters, to  the  British  government,  ^as  the  basis  of  an  adjust- 
ment. The  gentleman  is  to  accomplish  two  objects  by  his 
project — a  union  of  parties,  and  a  peace  with  the  enemy  ; 
both  objects,  sir,  are  not  less  interesting  to  me  than  to  the 
gentleman  ;  but,  I  very  much  doubt,  Mr.  Speaker,  wheth- 
er either  of  them  be  attainable.  The  gentleman  not  only 


124  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VI. 

requires  a  specific  form  to  be  given  to  the  proposition  it- 
self, but  it  is  an  essential  condition  on  which  he  is  to  enter 
into  the  union,  that  the  proposition  be  tendered  to  the 
British  government  by  such  characters  as  he  will  approve  ; 
bv  men,  as  he  says,  without  office  and  without  expectation 
of  office.  Now,  sir,  although  it  ma^  not  be  very  difficult 
to  find  men  who  do  not  hold  office,  it  would  seem  to  me  to 
be  extremely  difficult,  if  not  impossible,  to  find  men  with- 
out expectation  of  office;  and  yet  the  gentleman  would  be 
under  no  obligation  to  unite  with  us,  unless  his  project  were 
tendered  to  the  British  government  by  such  men.  Mr. 
Pinkney  had  passed  for  a  Federalist,  both  in  this  country 
and  England  ;  he  had  tendered  a  very  important  proposi- 
tion to  the  British  government ;  but,  as  the  gentlemen  on 
the  other  side  had  always  doubted  the  sincerity  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  making  that  overture,  it  is  to  be  presumed  that 
whatever  confidence  they  might  have  had  in  Mr.  Pinkney 
as  a  politician,  they  had  ceased  to  respect  him  as  a  fit  per- 
son to  make  propositions  to  the  British  government.  Sir,  I 
fear  it  is  as  difficult  to  unite  parties  as  to  conciliate  the  Brit- 
ish government.  Both  the  gentlemen  from  Connecticut 
and  North  Carolina  have  mistaken  the  character  of  that 
government ;  she  is  not  to  be  conciliated.  If  they  sincerely 
want  peace,  they  must  employ  the  resources  and  energies 
of  the  country  to  coerce  it.  This  is  susceptible  of  proof; 
repeated  overtures  have  been  made  in  the  most  amicable 
spirit,  and  have  been  Uniformly  rejected,  and  under  circum- 
stances which  left  no  doubt  of  the  lurking  hostility  which 
dictated  the  rejection. 

The  proposition  of  Mr.  Monroe,  of  1807,  had  failed  ;  the 
proposition  of  Mr.  Pinkney,  of  1810  and  1811,  had  failed; 
the  recent  proposition  of  Mr.  Russell  had  failed.  Of  the 
first,  I  have  already  spoken.  Give  me  leave  to  say  some- 
thing of  the  second.  The  failure  of  the  second  proposition, 
viz.:  to  continue  the  non-intercourse  against  France,  repeal- 
ing it  as  to  England,  provided  England  would  rescind  her 
Orders  in  Council,  is  one  of  the  most  extraordinary  and 
unaccountable  occurrences  in  political  history.  Be"  it  re- 
membered, sir,  that  this  proposition  was  substantially  a 
proposition  to  go  to  war  on  the  side  of  England  against 
France,  provided  England  would  rescind  her  orders — 
France  continuing  her  decrees.  I  say  this  was  the  propo- 
sition, substantially,  because  this  was  the  inevitable  effect 
of  it,  to  place  the  United  States  in  the  same  relation  to 
England  as  they  are  now  placed  in  relation  to  France — not 
with  a  view,  Mr.  Speaker,  to  an  alliance  with  either :  far 


CHAP.  VI.]          FURTHER  REMARKS  OF  COL.  TROUP,  125 

from  it;  but  to  the  ultimate  vindication  of  their  own  just 
rights  against  the  aggressions  of  either  of  them — warring 
for  themselves,  and  for  themselves  making  peace.  But, 
most  strange  to  say,  Mr.  Speaker,  this  voluntary  tender  of 
our  friendship  was  disdainfully  rejected  ;  at  a  period,  too, 
when  England,  pressed  by  a  formidable  war,  was  standing 
as  it  were  on  her  last  legs — all  Europe  united  against  her 
— and  when,  according  to  her  own  declaration,  her  very 
existence  was  at  stake  ;  when,  too,  the  single  condition  of 
this  friendly  proposition  was,  that  England  should  recall  a 
measure,  which,  but  a  short  time  after,  she  was  forced  to 
abandon  to  the  clamors  and  distresses  of  her  own  people. 
No,  said  England,  we  want  not  your  friendship  ;  it  is  of  no 
value  to  us  ;  you  have  not  courage  and  fortitude  to  defend, 
manfully,  your  own  just  rights,  and  how  can  I  expect  that 
you  will  render  important  service  to  me  ?  It  is  altogether 
impossible,  sir,  to  account  for  the  conduct  of  England, 
without  supposing  her  to  have  entertained  such  sentiments. 
And  will  the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  flatter  him- 
self with  the  belief,  that,  after  the  failure  of  such  a  propo- 
sition, England  is  to  be  conciliated  by  his  project — a  pro- 
ject substantially  the  same  as  that  of  Mr.  Monroe,  of  1807, 
and  identically  the  proposition  of  Mr.  Russell  in  1812  ? 
But  the  gentleman  derives  hope  from  the  ground  on  which 
Mr.  Russell's  proposal  was  rejected.  Mr.  .Russell,  says  the 
gentleman,  was  not  regularly  commissioned,  nor  was  he 
formally  instructed  to  make  the  proposition  in  the  latitude 
in  which  he  tendered  it.  But,  sir,  was  not  the  letter  of  the 
Secretary  of  State  a  sufficient  commission  for  him  ?  And, 
suppose  Mr.  Russell,  consulting  the  spirit  rather  than  the 
letter  of  his  instructions,  had  given  to  the  proposition  a 
somewhat  more  liberal  character,  it  was  not  on  this  ground 
the  proposition  was  rejected;  it  was  rejected,  as  Lord 
Castlereagh  expressly  said,  because  England  would  never 
consent  to  entertain  any  proposal  which  went  to  abridge 
her  right  of  impressment;  that  any  arrangement  for  the 
limitation  of  this  right  was  impracticable,  and  had  always 
been  so ;  that  it  was  true,  on  this  subject,  their  friends  in 
Congress — meaning  the  Federalists — had  believed  in  the 
practicability  of  an  arrangement,  but  they  were  mistaken  ; 
Mr.  King  was  as  far  from  accomplishing  it  as  Mr. 
Monroe :  that,  in  fact,  it  was  in  vain  to  negotiate  about 
it ;  popular  feeling  would  not  permit  them  to  make  any 
concession  upon  the  subject.  This  is  the  language  of  Lord 
Castlereagh.  But  suppose  it  had  not  been :  If  the  British 
cabinet  were  sincerely  disposed  to  listen  to  the  proposal, 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTJP.  [Ciur.  VI. 

they  would  have  said  so,  notwithstanding  any  objection 
which  could  have  been  taken  to  the  authority  or.  power  of 
Mr.  Kussell.  Lord  Castlereagh  would  have  said,  for  in- 
stance, that  the  proposition  was  a  fair  one  ;  that,  if  offered 
by  an  agent  with  full  powers,  it  would  be  entertained ;  if 
inconvenient  to  make  it  the  basis  of  negotiation  at  Lon- 
don, it  might  be  made  the  basis  of  negotiation  at  Wash- 
ington. But  this,  sir,  never  entered  into  the  head  of  Lord 
Castlereagh.  The  answer  to  Mr.  Ensscll  was,  that  the 
thing  was  wholly  impracticable,  and  had  always  been  so. 
But,  the  gentleman  desires  us  to  repeat  the  same  proposi- 
tion, that  we  may  receive  the  same  answer. 

I  trust,  sir,  by  this  time,  I  have  been  able  to  satisfy  the 
gentleman  that  England  is  not  to  be  conciliated.  Will  the 
gentleman  and  his  friends  unite  with  me  in  a  project  of  co- 
ercion— a  project  in  which  I  have  no  less  confidence  than 
the  gentleman  from  North  Carolina  in  his  own  (  Yes,  sir,  so 
much  confidence  that  I  would  almost  be  tempted  to  make  a 
bargain  with  the  gentleman  to  take  any  of  their  pro] 
however  fanciful,  it',  within  a  reasonable  time,  the  enemy 
did  not  yield  to  united  councils  and  an  active  war.  My 
project  is,  embargo — an  immediate,  entire  and  rigidly 
executed  embargo,  embracing  as  well  the  coastim: 
foreign  trade,  and,  if  you  please,  sir,  a  provision  by  law  lor 
naturalizing  British  seamen,  voluntarily  entering  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  dnrimj  the  'tvar — the  converse 
of  the  proposition  of  the  gentleman.  An  embargo  may  !»«• 
resorted  to  at  this  moment  with  comparatively  little  sacri- 
fice ;  the  foreign  trade  is  inconsiderable,  the  coasting  trade 
is  almost  entirely  interrupted.  The  etfect  of  an  embargo 
would  be ; 

1.  To  keep  our  own  commerce  safe  at  home,  leaving  the 
commerce  of  the  enemy  exposed  to  the  assaults  of  our  pri- 
vateers and  public  vessels ; 

2.  To  distress  the  enemy  at  home,  in  his  colonies,  and  on 
the  Peninsula ; 

3.  To  give  ten-fold  vigor  to  the  war,  by  making  a  diver- 
sion of  men  and  of  capital  in  favor  of  our  privateers,  and 
of  men  in  favor  of  our  public  vessels ; 

_  4.  To  facilitate  the  reduction  of  Canada,  by  creating  par- 
tial scarcity,  at  least — perhaps  absolute  distress. 

Xow  is  the  moment,  Mr.  Speaker,  for  this  embargo.  The 
British  papers  announce  that  the  price  of  bread  has  risen 
on  the  heel  of  the  harvest,  though  the  harvest  has  been  de- 
scribed as  abundant.  The  proclamations  of  the  Prince 
Regent  prohibit  the  conversion  of  grain  into  starch,  and  the 


CHAP.  VI.]          FURTHER  REMARKS  OF  COL.  TROUP.  127 

use  of  grain  in  the  breweries.  Can  we  have  stronger  evi- 
dence of  apprehended  scarcity?  Sir,  of  the  force  and 
effect  with  which  this  measure  may  be  wielded  against  the 
enemy,  we  do  not  want  more  decisive  proof  than  that  which 
the  enemy  himself  has  furnished — proof  which  is  a  source 
of  triumph  and  exultation  to  every  American.  Two  facts 
were  unfolded.  First,  by  the  examination  before  the  Bri- 
tish House  of  Commons,  it  had  been  shown  that,  if  the 
British  people  were  not  at  all  times  and  under  all  cir- 
cumstances absolutely  dependent  on  us  for  a  market  for 
their  manufactures,  they  were  at  this  time  and  in  the  pres- 
ent state  of  the  world  absolutely  dependent;  second,  that 
if  not  always,  and  in  every  state  of  things,  absolutely  de- 
pendent on  us  for  supplies  of  provisions,  they  were  in  the 
present  state  of  Europe  absolutely  dependent.  I  beseech 
the  gentlemen,  therefore,  to  take  the  embargo  as  a  sure 
measure  of  attaining  what  they  profess  so  much  to  desire — 
peace.  But,  sir,  the  other  measure  which  I  tender  to  the 
gentlemen,  though  not  so  powerful  and  efficient  against  the 
enemy,  is  not  less  interesting :  the  protection  of  seamen  of 
every  description,  during  the  war,  who  shall  be  found  fight- 
ing under  the  American  flag — to  naturalize  the  seaman 
voluntarily  enlisting  on  board  the  armed  vessels  of  the 
United  States,  and,  having  naturalized,  to  protect  him  with 
the  power  of  the  country.  "Whatever,  Mr.  Speaker,  have 
been  our  misfortunes  or  reverses  on  the  land,  we  may  enjoy 
the  consolation  that  the  gallantry  and  skill  of  our  seamen 
will  make  the  war,  if  not  a  short,  yet  certainly  an  honora- 
ble, one  for  the  country ;  the  war  was  undertaken  chiefly 
for  them  ;  they  will  be  chiefly  instrumental  in  waging  it, 
and  I  have  no  doubt  they  will  make  it  a  glorious  one  for 
themselves  and  for  all  of  us ;  but  they  ought  to  be  protect- 
ed. Whatever  be  the  description  or  character  of  the  sea- 
man fighting  under  the  American  flag,  that  seaman  ought 
to  be  protected.  Not  a  hair  of  his  head  should  be  touched 
by  the  enemy  with  impunity.  In  considering,  Mr.  Speak- 
er, the  right,  propriety  and  justice,  of  adopting  this  regu- 
lation, we  are  naturally  led  to  advert  to  the  British  doctrine 
and  practice  on  this  subject;  and  here  I  beg  leave  to  re- 
mark that.it  is  scarcely  possible  for  the  imagination  to 
conceive  any  thing  more  inconsistent  and  contradictory  than 
the  British  doctrine  and  practice.  She  sets  up  a  principle 
of  public  law — be  it  arbitrary  or  be  it  sound,  no  matter — 
she  requires  the  observance  of  it  from  all  other  nations  as 
a  settled  principle  of  public  law.  So  long  as  it  suits  her 
to  respect,  she  respects  it;  whenever  it  suits  her  to  violate, 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VI. 

she  violates  it ;  her  principle  is,  that  allegiance  is  natural? 
perpetual  and  inalienable ;  that  it  is  born  with  the  subject, 
and  descends  with  him  into  the  grave;  that  once  a  British 
subject,  always  a  British  subject.  She  enforces  this  doctrine 
when  she  impresses  from  American  vessels  naturalized  citi- 
zens; she  enforces  it  when  she  threatens  with  death,  as  the 
Prince  Regent  has  recently  done  in  his  proclamation,  the 
British  seaman  of  any  description  who  may  be  found  fighting 
under  the  American  flag.  She  violates  the  doctrine,  she 
tramples  it  under  foot,  when  she  declares,  by  statute,  that 
the  American  seaman  entering  voluntarily  into  her  service, 
and  continuing  two  years,  is  ipso  facto  naturalized.  She 
violates  the  doctrine,  she  tramples  it  under  foot,  when  she 
declares,  by  statute,  that  the  American  seaman  contracting 
marriage  with  a  British  subject,  is  ipso  facto  naturalized. 
Thus,  while  in  practice  she  contemns  her  own  doctrine,  she 
holds  out  every  lure  and  temptation  to  the  American  sea- 
man to  desert  the  service  of  his  country.  It  is  not  of  much 
importance  to  us,  Mr.  Speaker,  what  doctrine  the  British 
government  may  set  up  ;  all  we  ask  i*,  that,  whatever  the 
doctrine  be,  she  will  herself  respect  it.  While  her  Govern- 
ment is  in  the  habitual  practice  of  naturalizing  American 
seamen,  she  insists  that  our  Government  shall  not  natural- 
ize her  subjects.  Assuredly,  Mr.  Speaker,  it  cannot  be 
unlawful  for  us  to  do  in  relation  to  her  what  she  does  in 
relation  to  us.  If  she  violates  the  public  law  in  relation  to  us, 
that  very  public  law  authorizes  us  to  violate  it  in  relation  to 
her.  This  is  the  law  of  retaliation.  If  she  can  naturalize 
our  seamen  serving  two  years  on  board  her  vessels,  or  con- 
tracting marriage  with  her  subjects,  we  may  naturalize  her 
seamen  entering  voluntarily  into  our  service ;  the  period  of 
two  years,  prescribed  by  the  British  statute?,  makes  no  dif- 
ference ;  it  affects  not  the  principle ;  it  is  entirely  arbitrary ; 
she  might  as  well  have  prescribed  two  months,  or  two  days, 
or  two  hours. 

You  will  observe,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  the  British  Govern- 
ment, in  executing  this  regulation,  has  no  regard  to  the 
character  of  the  American  seaman.  It  is  unimportant  to 
her  whether  the  seaman  be  a  deserter  or  not  from  the 
American  service;  it  is  immaterial  whether  he  deserted 
before  or  after  the  war.  Indeed,  no  questions  are  asked  ; 
it  is  sufficient  for  the  purpose  that  he  is  an  American  citizen, 
Avilling  to  enter  into  her  service,  contracting  marriage  with 
a  British  subject,  or  serving  two  years  on  board  her  public 
ships.  We  demand  nothing  but  reciprocity ;  there  is  no 
justice  or  equity  where  there  is  no  reciprocity;  and  be- 


CHAP.  VI.]         FURTHER  REMARKS  OF  COL.  •  TROUP.  129 

tween  nations  there  must  be  reciprocity,  because  there  is 
perfect  equality.  Hence,  Mr.  Speaker,  the  justice,  the 
lawfulness,  the  propriety  of  the  regulation  which  I  propose 
to  you.  Let  us  for  a  moment  consider  its  expediency.  En- 
gaged in  a  war  with  a  formidable  Power,  we  find  ourselves 
in  one  important  respect  occupying  a  vantage  ground. 
Shall  we  avail  ourselves  of  it  to  the  injury  of  the  enemy, 
or  shall  we  voluntarily  abandon  it?  The  advantage  results 
from  the  nature  of  things.  The  temptation  to  British  sea- 
men to  enter  the  American  service  is  stronger  than  the 
temptation  to  American  seamen  to  enter  the  British  service  ; 
and  the  fact  is  that  more  British  seamen  enter  the  American 
service  than  American  seamen  the  British  service.  Shall 
we,  I  repeat,  avail  ourselves  of  this  advantage  during  the 
war  or  not  ?  Not,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  we  want  her  seamen  ; 
not  that  they  are  essentially  useful,  much  less  necessary  to 
our  service ;  but  that,  by  taking  them  from  the  enemy,  we 
wound,  and  wound  her  where  she  is  most  vulnerable ;  the 
loss  to  her  is  much  more  important  than  the  gain  to  us. 
She  sets  the  example,  too ;  and  when  we  offer,  as  a  condi- 
tion of  peace,  to  prevent  her  seamen  from  entering  into  our 
service,  we  are  instructed  by  her  conduct  that  she  chooses 
rather  to  enforce  her  practice  of  impressment,  by  arms,  than 
to  rely  on  any  pledge  which  we  can  give  for  the  exclusion 
of  her  seamen  from  our  employ. 

I  entreat  gentlemen,  therefore,  to  take  my  project  of 
coercion  instead  of  their  project  gf  propitiation.  I  have 
endeavored  to  show  that  the  enemy  is  not  to  be  conciliated  ; 

First,  Because  the  conciliatory  overture  of  1807,  substan- 
tially the  same  with  the  proposition  of  the  gentleman  from 
North  Carolina,  was  rejected  ; 

Second,  Because  the  overture  of  Mr.  Russell,  of  1812, 
identically  the  proposition  of  the  gentleman,  was  rejected; 

And,  third,,  above  all,  that  the  overture  repeatedly  press- 
ed by  Mr.  Pinkney,  in  1810  and  1811,  the  inevitable 
effect  of  which  would  have  been  to  throw  us  into  the  war 
on  the  side  of  England  against  France,  was  rejected. 

Sir,  it  will  be  asked,  with  wonder  and  astonishment,  how 
an  overture  of  this  character,  so  favorable  to  the  obvious 
policy  and  interest  of  England,  could  have  been  thrown 
back  upon  us  with  disdain ;  incredible  as  the  fact  is,  it  is 
true.  The  cause,  I  repeat  it,  is  only  to  be  sought  in  the 
ineffable  contempt  in  which  she  has  held  us ;  looking  at  our 
party  divisions,  and  calculating  on  the  weakness  and  fluctu- 
ation of  our  councils,  she  indulges  a  confident  belief  that 

IT 


OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CuAP.  VI. 

the  fatal  and  vibratory  policy  which  yielded  the  old  em- 
bargo to  the  clamors"  of  a  petty  faction,  would  forever 
distinguish  our  cause.  Yes,  sir,  it  is  to  the  forced  repeal  of 
the  old  embargo  that  we  must  look  for  the  causes  of  our 
protracted  quarrel  with  England.  "We  had  given  no  in- 
contestable evidence  before  of  the  influence  of  faction  upon 
our  councils ;  from  that  moment,  however,  she  ceased  to 
respect  us ;  from  that  moment,  she  never  dreamed  that  it 
was  possible  for  us  to  go  to  war.  "When  the  war  came,  she 
let  go  the  Orders  in  Council,  to  be  sure,  but  she  still  con- 
tinued to  believe,  and  yet  continues  to  believe,  that  the 
same  spirit  of  faction,  which  forced  the  repeal  of  the  old 
embargo,  would  drive  you  out  of  the  war.  She  has  been 
looking  with  hope  and  with  confidence  to  the  issue  of  the 
late  elections.  JSfow  that  she  is  disappointed  in  the  result, 
there  is  no  saying  what  she  will  do.  Our  safest  and  wisest 
course  is,  however,  to  combine  the  resources  of  the  country 
to  give  force  and  vigor  to  the  war. 

The  objections  to  this  bill,  sir,  are  so  various  and  contra- 
dictory, that  one  is  at  a  loss  in  what  manner  to  consider 
them.  By  some,  it  is  said  the  force  is  too  great ;  by  others, 
it  is  too  small ;  by  some,  the  term  of  enlistment  is  too  short ; 
by  others,  the  innocent  Canadians  are  to  be  overrun  with 
it  directly;  and  others,  again,  are  opposed  to  it,  because 
standing  armies  are  dangerous  to  republics,  and  because 
they  confer  great  patronage  and  power. 

We  are  embarked  in^the  war ;  a  military  force  is  neces- 
sary to  carry  it  on  :  it  must  be  one  of  two  descriptions — 
militia  or  regulars.  When  we  ask  gentlemen  for  the  mili- 
tia, they  say  no ! — the  militia  belong  to  the  States ;  they 
are  constitutionally  under  the  control  of  the  State  author- 
ities for  local  defence ;  you  shall  not  have  them.  Well, 
sir,  in  this,  for  the  present,  we  have  seemed  to  ac- 
quiesce ;  but,  gentlemen,  if  you  will  not  give  us  the  militia, 
pray  give  us  a  regular  force.  No,  say  gentlemen,  regular 
armies  are  dangerous  to  Republics  ;  they  confer  too  much 
patronage.  Well,  if  you  will  neither  give  us  regulars  nor 
militia,  what  will  you  do  2  And  here,  sir,  at  last  we  have 
extorted  their  system.  Will  you  believe  it,  sir  ? — it  is  to 
repeal  the  declaration  of  war,  lay  down  our  arms,  and 
throw  ourselves  upon  the  generosity  of  the  enemy — he  is  a 
noble  and  generous  foe,  and  will  grant  you  reasonable 
terms.  Thus,  sir,  are  we  to  be  bound  hand  and  foot,  with 
our  locks  shorn,  and  delivered  over  to  the  Philistines. 
We  answer  :  this,  gentlemen,  may  be  a  very  good  system 
for  you,  but  it  is  a  very  bad  one  for  us ;  if  you  will  be 


CHAP.  VI.]         FURTHER  REMARKS  OF  COL.- TROUP. 

united  against  us,  we  will  endeavor  to  be  united  for  the 
country  against  you ;  and  when  we  negotiate,  to  negotiate 
with  arms  in  our  hands. 

Sir,  there  is  one  argument  which,  on  this  subject,  I  think, 
merits  attention.  As  the  power  of  declaring  war  is  lodged 
with  the  Legislature,  so  the  power  of  conducting  it  is  vest- 
ed in  the  Executive.  He  is,  constitutionally,  the  sole  con- 
ductor of  war ;  he  has  the  planning  of  the  campaign,  the 
adaptation  of  force,  and  the  uncontrolled  direction  of  it  in 
the  field.  The  object  of  the  war  is  a  speedy  and  honorable 
peace,  and  it  is  his  duty  so  to  direct  the  national  force,  that 
the  object  be  attained  in  the  best  manner,  and  with  the 
least  possible  delay.  He  is  responsible  to  you,  therefore, 
for  the  wise  and  judicious  application  of  the  force;  he  is 
responsible  to  you  by  election,  and  by  impeachment.  Is 
not  this  responsibility  of  some  value  to  you  ?  Does  it  not 
become  you  to  maintain  and  cherish  it  ?  You  can  only 
cherish  it  by  granting,  and  granting  liberally,  the  supplies 
asked  for.  If  you  withhold  the  supplies,  you  destroy  the 
responsibility,  you  assume  it  to  yourselves.  If  you  grant 
the  supplies  with  a  niggardly  or  parsimonious  hand,  you 
impair  the  responsibility,  you  diminish  it  essentially.  Lib- 
eral supplies  of  men  and  money  are  necessary  to  success  ; 
your  armies  and  navies  must  be  well  found,  or  they  are 
inefficient.  How  comes  it  the  Emperor  of  France  marched 
fifteen  hundred  miles  from  home,  and  vanquished  forty 
millions  of  people,  before  we  reduced  a  petty  province  of 
the  enemy,  with  a  population  of  only  three  hundred  thous- 
and, and  lying  at  our  very  door  ?  Military  skill  out  of  the 
question — it  is  because  of  his  ample  command  of  men  and 
money.  How  is  it  that  England  makes  such  vast  efforts  on 
the  Peninsula  ?  It  is  because  the  Parliament  never  hesi- 
tates to  grant  the  supplies,  and  to  grant  them  liberally. 
But  the  term  of  enlistment  is  too  short ;  so  it  is,  if  we  want 
this  force  for  the  general  purposes  of  the  war ;  for  the 
general  purposes  of  the  war,  five  years'  men  are  infinitely 
better  ;  but  we  do  not  want  more  five  years'  men  than  are  al- 
ready provided  for  by  law.  The  Executive  asked  this  force, 
in  addition,  as  a  peculiar  force,  and  for  a  temporary  occasion ; 
they  say,  everything  considered,  it  is  best  adapted  to  their 
object.  Will  we  believe  them  ?  Will  we  give  them  what 
they  ask  ?  Or,  will  we  give  them  what  they  do  not  ask  ? 

Mr.  T.  concluded  his  speech,  by  adverting  to  the  alleged 
misfortunes  of  the  war,  and  attributing  much  of  the  delay 


132  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTIP.  [CHAP.  VI. 

of  operations  on  land  to  the  unwarrantable  efforts  of  party, 
in  introducing  insubordination  and  disaffection  in  the  East- 
ern States,  &c. 

[1813.]  The  bill  passed  the  House  on  the  14th  of  Jan- 
uary, under  the  title  of  "  An  act  in  addition  to  the  act, 
entitled  'An  act  to  raise  an  additional  military  force,  and 
for  other  purposes,' "  was  slightly  amended  in  the  Senate, 
and  was  finally  approved  by  the  President  on  the  29th  of 
the  same  month. 

The  second  and  last  session  of  the  Twelfth  Congress  ter- 
minated on  Ikl  March,  1813. 


CHAP.  VII.]  RE-ELECTION  TO  CONGRESS.  133 


CHAPTER  VII. 

Col.  Troup's  Re-Election  to  Congress. — Sessions  of  Thirteenth 
Congress. — Progress  and  close  of  the  War. —  Conscription. — 
Retirement  of  Col.  Troup  from  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, &c. 

ON  the  24th  day  of  May,  1813,  the  first  session  of  the 
Thirteenth  Congress  began.  Mr.  Madison  had  been  inaugu- 
rated, for  the  second  time,  as  President,  on  the  4th  of 
March  preceding.  The  Representatives  from  Georgia, 
elected  on  the  first  Monday  of  October,  1812,  were  "William 
Barnett,  William  W.  Bibb,  John  Forsyth,  Boiling  Hall, 
Thomas  Telfair  and  GEOKGE  M.  TEOUP. 

On  the  26th  of  May,  Col.  Troup  was  appointed  Chair- 
man of  the  Committee  on  Military  Affairs,  and  in  this  po- 
sition he  continued  during  the  war.  A  better  selection 
could  not  have  been  made.  It  is  admitted  that  he  pos- 
sessed military  talents  of  a  high  order.  His  advocacy  of 
the  war  was  based  upon  principle,  and  he  was  for  pressing 
it  with  vigor.  In  afterwards  reviewing  his  political  life, 
"  he  was  better  satisfied  with  his  speeches  and  efforts  in 
Congress,  in  bringing  on  the  last  war  with  Great  Britain, 
after  her  dastardly  and  disgraceful  attack  upon  the  Chesa- 
peake, than  any  other  portion  of  his  past  political  life."* 
He  possessed  all  the  talent,  foresight  and  firmness  necessary 
for  the  post ;  and  when  we  consider  the  distinguished  abil- 
ity on  the  Republican  side  of  the  House  at  that  time,  his 
appointment  may  be  considered  anything  else  than  an 
empty  compliment. 

It  is  not  consistent  with  the  plan  of  this  work  to  go  into 
a  detail  of  the  events  of  the  war.  Up  to  this  period,  the 
land  forces  had  met  with  some  reverses  and  some  successes, 
and  our  gallant  little  navy  had  already  given  earnest,  in  a 

*  See  letter  of  Hon.  Joseph  H.  Lumpkin,  in  a  subsequent  chapter.— ED. 


134  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VII. 

few  brilliant  victories,  of  a  future  career  of  renown  as  re- 
markable as  it  was  unexpected. 

This  session  of  Congress  was  adjourned  on  the  second  day 
of  August.  Several  important  acts  were  passed  for  the  de- 
fence of  the  country,  the  prosecution  of  the  war,  raising 
taxes,  &c. 

[1813.]  On  the  14-th  of  June,  Col.  Troup,  from  the  Mil- 
itary Committee,  introduced  a  bill  to  provide  for  the  wid- 
ows and  orphans  of  militia  slain,  and  for  militia  disabled 
in  the  service  of  the  United  States;  and,  on  the  22d,  he  in- 
troduced a  bill  to  continue  in  force,  for  a  limited  time,  cer- 
tain acts  authorizing  corps  of  rangers  for  the  protection  of 
the  frontiers,  &c.;  and,  on  the  23d,  a  bill  supplementary  to 
the  act  in  addition  to  the  act  to  raise  an  additional  military 
force ;  also  one  in  relation  to  the  regulation  of  the  ord- 
nance ;  and,  on  the  30th,  a  bill  making  further  appropria- 
tion for  fortifying  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the  United 
States.  But  it  would  be  useless  to  go  into  a  consideration  of 
the  various  measures  proposed  by  him,  from  the  appropriate 
committee,  during  the  session.  The  reports  of  proceedings 
do  not  show  that  he  took  much  part  in  debate.  Indeed, 
this  seems  to  have  been  a  working  and  not  a  debating 
session.  Such  was  the  progress  made  in  business,  that, 
on  the  16th  of  July,  in  secret  session  of  the  House,  Col. 
Troup,  from  the  committee  on  Military  Affairs,  made  the 
following  report : 

The  committee  on 'Military  Affairs,  to  whom  was  referred 
a  resolution  of  yesterday,  having  relation  to  the  present 
movements  of  the  enemy,  report : 

That  they  have  examined  into  the  state  of  preparation, 
naval  and  military,  made  to  receive  the  enemy,  and  are 
satisfied  that  the  preparation  is,  in  every  respect,  adequate 
to  the  emergency,  and  that  no  measures  are  necessary,  on 
the  part  of  the  House,  to  make  it  more  complete. 

[1813.]  On  the  6th  of  December,  Congress  re-assembled. 
The  President  congratulated  that  body  on  the  success  of 
our  arms— the  splendid  victory  of  Perry  on  Lake  Erie,  of 
Gen.  Harrison  at  the  battle  of  the  Thames,  &c.,  &c.  No 


CHAP.  VII.]     REMARKS  ON  RESOLUTION  OP'  INQUIRY.  135 

man  felt  more  keenly  than  Colonel  Troup  the  revers- 
es which  our  land  and  naval  forces  sometimes  experi- 
enced, and  no  one  rejoiced  more  heartily  at  the  successes 
which  crowned  the  efforts  of  the  Administration  and  its 
friends  to  wage  an  unequal  war  against  a  haughty  foreign 
foe,  and  insidious  enemies  at  home.  Late  in  the  previous 
session,  Mr.  Bradley,  of  Yermont,  had  offered  a  resolution 
of  inquiry  "  into  the  causes  which  led  to  the  multiplied 
failures  of  the  arms  of  the  United  States  on  our  Western 
and  North-western  frontier,"  &c.  The  resolution  had  been 
laid  on  the  table,  and  a  resolution  to  print  it  negatived. 

At  the  present  session,  a  resolution,  of  the  same  import, 
but  calling  on  the  President  for  information,  not  improper 
to  be  communicated,  was  offered  by  the  same  member.  In 
voting  against  the  resolution, 

Mr.  Troup  said,  that  if  an  inquiry  of  this  sort  was  expe- 
dient at  all,  the  shape  of  the  proposition  was  perhaps  as 
little  exceptionable  as  could  have  been  given  to  it.  But  a 
military  inquiry,  under  any  circumstances,  was  a  matter  of 
so  much  delicacy  that  it  ought  to  be  well  weighed  and  en- 
tered into  with  much  caution  and  circumspection.  This 
arose  from  the  nature  of  such  inquiries.  Secrecy  was  the 
soul  of  military  operations.  Their  details  ought  to  be 
known  to  those  concerned  only ;  for,  if  imparted  to  others, 
perchance  they  might  find  their  way  to  the  enemy.  It  was 
very  well  known  that  military  investigations  frequently 
took  place  in  the  British  House  of  Commons ;  but  the  inva- 
riable object  of  them  was  to  turn  out  the  Ministry.  Such 
an  inquiry,  however  common,  rarely  was  instituted  even 
there  ;  and,  whenever  successfully  urged,  it  had  invariably 
been  when  the  object  of  an  expedition  or  campaign  had 
been  abandoned.  Mr.  T.  said  he  should  have  liked  to  have 
heard  from  the  mover  of  the  resolution  something  like  ar- 
gument ;  that  much  more  of  advantage  would  result  from 
the  adoption,  than  of  evil  that  might  ensue  from  it.  Sup- 
pose any  possible  result  of  the  inquiry — suppose,  for  in- 
stance, that  by  the  communication,  in  answer  to  this 
resolution,  it  should  be  shown  that  General  Wilkinson  had 
been  prevented  by  bad  weather  from  commencing  his  op- 
erations in  due  season ;  that,  when  he  reached  St.  Regis, 
General  Wilkinson,  without  forming  a  junction  with  Gen. 
Hampton,  had  proceeded  on  Montreal ;  or  that,  even  having 


136  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VII. 

formed  sucli  a  junction,  it  would  have  been  unmilitary  for 
him  to  proceed  onwards  ;  suppose  it  should  turn  out  that 
there  had  been  the  best  military  conduct  possible  on  the 
part  of  all  our  Generals ;  or,  that  the  object  of  the  cam- 
paign failed  to  be  accomplished  in  consequence  of  the  mis- 
conduct of  either  of  them,  or  was  the  result  of  cowardice 
or  treason  ;  suppose  any  result,  probable  or  improbable, 
and  where  is  the  constitutional  remedy?  How  would  the 
gentleman  lay  his  hand  on  the  delinquent  "i  An  investiga- 
tion, it  appeared  to  him,  could  not  properly  be  made  by  a 
tribunal  which  had  not  the  power  to  apply  the  remedy. 
The  investigation,  as  well  as  the  remedy,  rightly  be- 
longed to  another  department  of  the  government.  Martial 
law  was  the  only  proper  corrective  to  be  applied  to  mis- 
conduct of  military  men.  Not,  Mr.  T.  said,  that  he  was 
opposed  to  every  species  of  military  inquiry.  Far  from  it. 
There  were  certain  species  of  inquiry  which  it  might  be 
perfectly  proper  to  institute.  For  the  purpose  of  new- 
modeling  an  army,  abolishing  certain  descriptions  of  force 
or  grades  of  office,  such  inquiries  might  be  necessary. 
But,  said  he,  for  the  purpose  of  reaching  any  particular 
military  commander,  who  is  supposed  to  have  forfeited  the 
confidence  of  the  people,  the  remedy  is  not  yours;  it  bo- 
longs  to  the  Executive.  Not  having  the  remedy  in  our 
hands,  the  inquiry  cannot  be  productive  of  any  advantage 
to  the  public  concerns.  But  with  respect  to  some  evils 
which  may  result,  Mr.  T.  said  he  would  add  a  few  words. 
What  description  of  evidence  would  be  necessary  to  the 
intelligent  prosecution  of  such  an  inquiry  *  Nothing  short, 
certainly,  of  the  plan  of  the  campaign,  the  correspondence 
with  the  Generals,  and  the  correspondence  of  the  Gen- 
erals with  each  other,  &c.  Mr.  T.  dwelt  on  the  evils  which 
would  result  from  exposing  to  the  enemy  a  plan  of  the 
campaign,  &c.  Unfortunate  as  the  termination  of  this 
campaign  might  have  been,  it  would  become  more  so  by 
exposing  to  the  enemy  the  official  details  of  its  plans  and 
progress.  Wherever  we  had  experienced,  during  the  war, 
anything  of  disaster  or  defeat,  it  was  attributable  to  our 
ignorance  of  the  force  of  the  enemy.  It  was  therefore  ob- 
viously important  to  us  to  follow  the  example  of  the  enemy 
in  this  respect,  and  keep  him  as  much  as  possible  in  igno- 
rance of  our  military  operations.  He  may  occasionally 
derive  information  from  a  traitor  or  deserter;  but  informa- 
tion so  acquired  bore  no  comparison  to  the  injury  which 
would  result  from  affording  the  enemy  official  information 
on  these  matters ;  and  such  official  information,  he  presumed, 


CHAP.  VII.]         ANOTHER  RESOLUTION  OF  INQUIRY.  137 

would  alone  satisfy  the  object  of  the  gentleman's  motion. 
He  hoped  therefore  it  would  not  pass. 

The  resolution  was  passed  by  a  large  majority,  but  against 
the  vote  of  Col.  Troup  and  the  two  next  to  him  on  the 
Military  Committee. 

[1814.]  On  the  Yth  of  January,  Mr.  Grosvenor,  of  New 
York,  offered  the  following  Resolution  : 

"  That  the  committee  on  Military  Affairs  be  instructed 
to  inquire  into  the  acts,  rules  and  regulations,  by  which  fur- 
loughs and  leave  of  absence  from  the  Armies  of  the  Unit- 
ed States  are  obtained  by  officers  thereof,  and  whether  the 
said  acts,  rules  and  regulations  ought  to  be  revised,  altered 
and  amended  ;  and  that  they  have  leave  to  report  by  bill 
or  otherwise." 

Mr.  Troup  objected  to  this  motion,  as  traveling  out  of 
the  province  of  the  Legislature  into  that  of  the  Executive. 
To  Congress  was  granted  the  power  of  raising  armies  and 
granting  supplies  for  them ;  but  to  the  Executive  were  con- 
fided the  exclusive  control  and  direction  of  the  armies 
when  raised.  To  enable  him  properly  to  execute  this  duty, 
the  President  had  been  vested  with  the  most  arbitrary  pow- 
ers— the  power  of  dismissing  without  assigning  a  cause, 
and,  jointly  with  the  military  courts,  of  cashiering,  and  in- 
flicting on  officers  other  punishments,  even  unto  death. 
The  power,  then,  of  controlling  military  movements,  said 
Mr.  T.,  is  not  with  us,  but  with  the  Executive.  He  may 
dismiss  any  officer  of  the  Army,  and  even  the  Secretary  of 
War,  for  misconduct ;  and  the  power  of  control,  possessed 
by  this  House,  is  the  power  of  impeaching  the  President, 
if  he  fail  in  the  performance  of  his  duty.  True  it  was,  the 
enemy  had,  on  a  recent  occasion,  suprised  us,  found  us 
slumbering  in  our  beds  in  a  thoughtless  manner — but  it 
was  not  for  him  to  say  where  the  blame  lay  of  that  occur- 
rence. In  relation  to  the  officers  now  absent  from  the 
Army,  he  could  only  say  that  he  had  heard — and  he  had 
heard  because,  in  his  capacity  of  Chairman  of  the  Military 
Committee,  it  had  become  his  duty  to  inquire  into  the  mat- 
ter— that  when  the  Army  lately  went  into  cantonments, 
there  were  found  to  be  a  considerable  number  of  supernu- 
merary officers  attached  to  it.  An  order  had  been  issued 
by  the  commanding  General  to  consolidate  the  troops  into 
full  and  complete  regiments,  and  allot  to  each  of  the  regi- 
ments so  formed  its  proper  complement  of  officers.  That 
18 


138  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VII. 

order  being  properly  executed,  the  supernumerary  officers 
were  thrown  out  of  employ — and  orders  were  given  to  them 
to  repair  to  the  different  recruiting  stations,  where  un<iues- 
tionably  they  would  be  occupied  more  beneficially  to  the 
service  than  in  any  other  way.  This  was  the  fact  in  relation 
to  the  absence  of  the  officers  generally  who  were  not  in  the 
Army.  It  struck  him,  Mr.  Troup  said,  that  there  was  some- 
thing objectionable  in  the  object  of  the  resolution.  It 
proposed  to  make  the  manner  of  granting  furloughs  a  mat- 
ter of  legislative  provision,  when  in  fact  it  was  a  thing 
which  could  not  properly  be  legislated  upon,  depending  so 
entirely,  as  it  did,  on  circumstances  and  on  the  state  of  the 
Army.  If  Congress  were  to  make  a  law  that  no  furlough 
should  be  granted,  there  was  not  an  honorable  man  in  the 
country  who  would  accept  a  military  office.  This  being  his 
view  of  the  subject,  he  hoped  the  resolution  would  not  pass. 

In  rejoining  to  the  member  from  New  York, 

Mr.  Troup  deprecated  the  disposition  which  appeared  to 
prevail  in  that  House  to  interfere  in  the  management  of  the 
Army.  If  the  members  of  this  House  undertook  to  make 
themselves  judges  of  the  manner  in  which  the  war  ought  to 
be  conducted,  there  would  be  about  as  many  opinions  as  then 
were  members  in  the  House:  an<l  at  last,  after  all  their 
opinions,  the  war  must  be  conducted  by  the  Executive,  in 
such  manner  as  he  might  deem  most  consistent  with  the 
public  interest.  The  gentleman  last  up  had  fairly  av<'\ve<l 
his  ignorance  of  existing  regulations  on  the  subject.  Mr. 
T.  rose  to  inform  the  gentleman  and  the  House  of  their 
nature;  by  whom  it  would  be  agreed  they  weiv  a-  com- 
prehensive as  anything  could  be.  Mr.  T.  read  the  following 
article  from  the  regulations  issued  from  the  War  Office  : 

"  No  furloughs  shall  be  given  during  a  campaign  ;  nor 
any,  but  by  the  General  commanding  me  district  or  army, 
and _ for  the  cause  of  disability,  which  disability  shall  be 
certified  by  regimental  or  hospital  surgeon. 

"Furloughs  shall,  besides  expressing  the  term  of  time  grant- 
ed to  absentees,  express  also  an  order  to  join  the  regiment, 
post  or  garrison,  to  which  they  may  belong. 

"  No  order  shall  be  given  to  officers  seeking  a  furlough  for 
their  own  convenience,  which  shall  have  the  effect  of  enti- 
tling them  to  an  allowance  for  transportation  of  baggage." 

This  provision,  Mr.  T.  said,  was  as  imperative  as  it  could 
be,  and  had  all  the  force  of  law.     There  was,  therefore,  ob- 
viously, no  amendment  necessary  to  the  existing  pr< 
In  inquiring  into  the  non-execution  of  this. provision,  if 
such  was  the  object,  the  House  assumed  a  duty  not  belong- 


CHAP.  VII.]  CAPTURE  OF  WASHINGTON  CITY.  139 

ing  to  it,  and  must  go  upon  the  principle  that  it  had  a  right 
to  punish  officers  for  misconduct;  otherwise,  it  was  not 
within  its  province  to  inquire  into  their  conduct  in  this  re- 
spect. 

The  resolution  was  laid  on  the  table. 

These  speeches  are  given,  not  merely  on  account  of  their 
intrinsic  excellence,  but  to  show  the  zeal  and  activity  of 
Col.  Troup  in  that  particular  branch  of  the  public  service 
which  had  been  so  largely  entrusted  to  his  vigilance,  and 
to  show,  also,  his  familiarity  with  the  duties  and  details  of 
his  responsible  post. 

'  Besides  many  plans  and  propositions  which  he  presented 
to  the  House,  for  carrying  on  the  war,  he  spoke,  during  the 
session,  on  various  subjects — most  of  them  connected  with 
the  absorbing  topic  of  the  war.  But  we  do  not  deem  it 
necessary  to  refer  particularly  to  them.  This  session  closed 
on  the  18th  of  April,  1814.* 

Congress  was  again  convened,  by  the  President,  on  the 
19th  of  September,  of  the  same  year,  by  proclamation 
dated  the  8th  of  August.  Before  the  meeting  of  Congress, 
however,  to  wit,  on  the  23d  of  August,  the  British  had 
taken  possession  of  the  city  of  Washington,  burned  the 
Capitol  and  other  public  buildings,  and  committed  other 
acts  of  outrage  unknown  to  civilized  warfare. 

In  his  message  to  Congress,  the  President  thus  alluded  to 
these  outrages : 

"  In  the  events  of  the  present  campaign,  the  enemy,  with 
all  his  augumented  means  and  wanton  use  of  them,  has 
little  ground  for  exultation,  unless  he  can  feel  it  in  the  suc- 
cess of  his  recent  enterprises  against  this  metropolis  and  the 
neighboring  town  of  Alexandria,  from  both  of  which  his 
retreats  were  as  precipitate  as  his  attempts  were  bold  and 
fortunate.  In  his  other  incursions  on  our  Atlantic  frontier, 
his  progress,  often  checked  and  chastised  by  the  martial 

*  During  this  session,  a  new  embargo  act  was  passed,  entitled  "An  Act  laying  an  embargo 
on  all  ships  and  vessels  in  the  ports  and  harbors  of  the  United  States,"  and  was  approved  by 
the  President  on  the  17th  day  of  December,  1813.  It  was  of  short  duration,  however,  having 
been  repealed  on  the  14th  day  of  April,  1814,  by  the  decisive  vote,  in  the  House,  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifteen  to  thirty-seven.  On  the  Question  of  repeal,  the  Georgia  delegation  stood  : 
YEAS — Messrs.  Alfred  Cuthbert,  Forsyth  and  Telfair ;  NATS — Messrs.  Barnett,  Hall  and  TROUP. 
Dr.  Bibb  had  been  elected,  on  6th  November,  1813,  to  the  Senate,  in  place  of  Hon.  William 
It.  Crawford,  resigned;  and  Mr.  Cuthbert  took  his  seat  in  the  House,  on  7th  February,  1814,  in 
place  of  Dr.  Bibb. — ED. 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  TIL 

spirit  of  the  neighboring  citizens,  has  had  more  effect  in 
distressing  individuals,  and  in  dishonoring  his  arms,  than  in 
promoting  any  object  of  legitimate  warfare.  And,  in  the 
two  instances  mentioned,  however  deeply  to  be  regretted  on 
our  part,  he  will  find  in  his  transient  success,  which  in- 
terrupted tor  a  moment  only  the  ordinary  public  business 
at  the  seat  of  government,  no  compensation  for  the  loss  of 
character  with  the  world.  by  his  violations  of  private  pro- 
perty, and  by  his  destruction  of  public  edifices,  protected, 
as  monuments  of  the  arts,  by  the  laws  of  civilized  war- 
fare." 

Although  not  strictly  pertinent  to  a  biographical  work, 
we  cannot  here  omit  the  insertion  of  one  of  the  many  in- 
cidents of  brutal  outrage,  which  so  excited  the  American 
people  at  the  time,  and  the  recollection  of  which  at  this  day 
causes  the  patriotic  heart  to  rejoice  that  the  time  has  pas-ed, 
when  England,  witli  all  her  boasted  strength,  can  further 
outrage  the  feelings  of  a  generous  but  then  comparatively 
impotent  foe.  Although  anonymous,  the  article  appears  to 
be  truthful,  and  has  been  recently  republished,  substan- 
tially, in  one  or  more  of  the  newspapers  of  this  country. 
It  is  as  follows  : 
To  tl>  K,  I 'dors  of  the  Nation  «1  Intelligencer  : 

Among  the  deeds  of  vandalism  committed  during  the 
late  invasion  of  the  city,  by  the  enemy,  1  know  of  none  moiv 
base  and  wanton  than  the  mutilation  of  the  monument  at 
the  Navy  yard.  This  elegant  monument  of  the  liberality 
ana  gallantry  of  our  naval  heroes,  has  been  shamefully  de- 
faced by  the  hand  of  some  barbarian.  On  the  base,  the 
Genius  of  America  is  represented  by  a  female  figure  point- 
ing to  an  inscription  and  raising  a  view  of  the  battle  before! 
Tripoli,  instructing  her  children  who  are  standing  beside 
her.  The  pointing  finger  and  thumb  have  been  cut  oil'. 
History,  a  female  figure,  who  is  represented  as  recording 
the  event,  has- been  robbed  of  her  pen — and  the  figure  of 
Fame,  who  is  represented  as  descending  in  a  cloud  covering 
the  deeds  of  her  sons  with  the  palm  and  crown  of  glory, 
has  been  robbed  of  the  palm  at  the  expense  of  the  hand 
that  held  it.  From  every  inquiry  it  is  possible  to  make, 
there  is  no  reason  to  doubt  that  it  was  the  deliberate  act  of 
some  of  the  British  officers,  as  several  of  them  were  seen  to 
be  on  the  base  of  the  monument,  by  the  neighbors  around 

j  1  i  * 

the  yard. 


CHAP.  VII.]  BRITISH  OUTRAGES. 

The  deed  itself  appears  to  have  some  allusion  to  the  time 
when  it  was  perpetrated  ;  but  poor  indeed  must  have  been 
the  inspiration  of  the  poet,  not  to  have  foreseen,  in  the 
victories  of  McDonough,  Warrington  and  Blakeley,  how 
soon  History  might  resume  her  employment,  and  Fame  cover 
our  heroes  with,  I  trust,  an  imperishable  palm  of  victory. 

AN  OBSERVER. 

Colonel  Troup  was  at  the  seat  of  the  national  government 
when  the  capital  was  taken.  As  chairman  of  the  Military 
committee  of  the  House,  he  probably  deemed  it  his  duty 
to  be  there.  His  proud  spirit  was  fired  with  indignation  at 
these  atrocities.  We  have  it  from  good  authority,*  that 
amongst  the  few  persons  in  Washington  at  the  time,  who 
did  not  forget  their  propriety  in  the  general  panic  which 
pervaded  all  classes,  were  JAMES  MONROE,  then  Secretary 
of  State,  and  GEOKGE  M.  TftOUP. 

In  consequence  of  the  destruction  of  the  Capitol,  Con- 
gress convened  in  a  public  building  of  the  city  which  had 
been  used  for  the  Post  and  other  public  offices. 

On  the  26th  of  September,  a  resolution  was  offered, 
"  That  a  committee  be  appointed  to  inquire  into  the  expe- 
diency of  removing  the  Seat  of  Government,  during  the 
present  session  of  Congress,  to  a  place  of  greater  security, 
and  less  inconvenience,  than  this  city,  with  leave  to  report 
by  bill  or  otherwise."  On  this  resolution,  five  of  the  mem- 
bers from  Georgia,  to  wit,  Messrs.  Cuthbert,  Forsyth,  Hall, 
Telfair  and  TROUP,  voted  in  the  negative. 

During  this  session,  Col.  Monroe  (who  had  succeeded 
John  Armstrong  as  Secretary  of  War,)  addressed  the  fol- 
lowing communication  to  the  Military  Committee  of  the 
House : 

DEPARTMENT  OF  WAR,  October  17,  1814. 

Sir:  The  great  importance  of  the  subject,  and  the  other 
duties  of  the  Department,  which  could  not  fail  to  be  very 
sensibly  felt,  at  so  interesting  a  period,  by  a  person  who  had 

*  Gen.  Thomas  S.  Jesup,  of  the  IT.  S.  Army,  who  stated  the  circumstance  to  two  gen. 
tlemen  of  Savannah,  in  1854. — ED. 


14-2  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VII. 

just  taken  charge  of  it,  are  my  apology  for  not  answering 
your  letter  of  the  24th  of  September,  at  an  earlier  day,  on 
the  defects  of  the  present  Military  Establishment. 

Due  consideration  has  been  bestowed  on  the  subject- 
matter  of  that  letter,  and  I  have  now  the  honor  to  submit 
to  the  Committee  the  following  report : 

1.  That  the  present  Military  Establishment,  amounting 
to  sixty-two  thousand  four  hundred  and  forty-eight  men,  be 
preserved  and  made  complete,  and  that  the  most  efficient 
means  authorized  by  the  constitution,  and  consistent  with 
the  general  rights  of  our  fellow-citizens,  be  adopted,  to  fill 
the  ranks,  and  with  the  least  possible  delay. 

2.  That   a  permanent   force,  consisting  of  at  least  forty 
thousand  men,  in  addition  to  the  present  Military  Establish- 
ment, be  raised  for  the  defence  of  our  cities  ana  frontiers, 
under  an  engagement  by  the  Executive  with  such  corps 
that  it  shall   be  employed  in  that  service  within  certain 
specified  limits,  and  that  a  proportional  augmentation  <>!' 
general  officers  of  each  grade,  and  other  staff,  be  provided 
lor. 

3.  That  the  corps  of  engineers  be  enlarged. 

•i.  That  the  ordnance  department  be  amended. 

Respecting  the  enlargement  of  the  corps  of  engineers,  I 
shall  submit  hereafter  a  more  detailed  communication. 

For  the  proposed  amendment  of  the  ordnance  department, 
I  submit  a  report  from  the  senior  officer  of  that  department 
in  this  city,  which  is  approved. 

I  shall  be  ready  and  happy  to  communicate  such  further 
remarks  and  details  on  these  subjects  as  the  Committee  may 
desire,  and  shall  request  permission  to  suggest  hereafter  the 
result  of  further  attention  to,  and  reflection  on,  our  Military 
Establishment  generally,  should  anything  occur  which  may 
be  deemed  worthy  its  attention. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  &c., 

JAMES  MONEOE. 
Hon.  G.  M.  Troup, 

Chairman  Military  Committee. 

This  letter  was  accompanied  by  "  Explanatory  Obser- 
vations," which,  after  other  remarks  on  the  occasion,  the 
nature  and  the  exigencies  of  the  war,  spoke  as  follows: 

"  It  follows,  from  this  view  of  the  subject,  that  it  will  be 
necessary  to  bring  into  the  field,  next  campaign,  not  less 
than  one  hundred  thousand  regular  troops.  Such  a  force, 
aided,  in  extraordinary  circumstances,  by  volunteers  and 


CHAP.  VII.]  MILITARY  CONSCRIPTION.  143 

militia,  will  place  us  above  all  inquietude  as  to  the  final 
result  of  this  contest.  It  will  fix  on  a  solid  and  imperish- 
able foundation,  our  union  and  independence,  on  which  the 
liberties  and  happiness  of  our  fellow-citizens  so  essen- 
tially depend.  It  will  secure  to  the  United  States  an  early 
and  advantageous  peace.  It  will  arrest,  in  the  further  pros- 
ecution of  the  war,  the  desolation  of  our  cities  and  our 
coast,  by  enabling  us  to  retort  on  the  enemy  those  calami- 
tiesw  hich  our  citizens  have  been  already  doomed  to  suffer ; 
a  resort  which  self-defence  alone,  and  a  sacred  regard  for 
the  rights  and  honor  of  the  nation,  could  induce  the  United 
States  to  adopt." 

Four  plans  were  then  submitted,  with  a  view  to  carry  out 
a  system  of  national  defence ;  and,  on  the  27th  of  October, 
Col.  Troup,  from  the  committee  on  Military  Affairs,  report- 
ed a  bill  making  further  provision  for  filling  the  ranks 
of  the  regular  Army,  by  classifying  the  free  male  popula- 
tion of  the  United  States.  The  bill  proposed,  generally,  to 
provide  for  the  division  of  the  whole  free  male  population  of 
the  United  States,  by  the  assessors,  into  classes  of  twenty- 
five  men  each  ;  each  class  to  be  compelled,  under  a  penalty 

of hundred  dollars,  to  furnish,  within days  after 

such  classification,  an  able-bodied  recruit,  for  the  service  of 
the  United  States,  &c.,  &c. 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  state  that  this  whole  system  of 
raising  men  by  draft,  instead  of  recruiting,  (which  had  very 
much  failed  in  consequence  of  domestic  opposition,  especi- 
ally in  New  England,  to  the  war,)  was  denounced  by  the 
Federalists  as  a  CONSCRIPTION;  or  that  the  occurrence  of 
peace,  soon  afterwards,  rendered  the  further  consideration 
of  the  drafting  system  unnecessary — a  system  which  seems 
to  have  met  the  approbation  of  General  Washington,* 
in  1790,  and  which  the  great  military  powers  of  Europe 
have  practically,  although  not  always  humanely,  enforced, 
as  necessary  to  successful  military  operations. 

It  is  only  fair  to  let  Col.  Troup  speak  for  himself  on  this 
and  other  plans,  then  before  Congress,  for  the  conduct  of 

*For  a  full  consideration  of  these  plans,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  Annals  of  Congress, 
1814— '15,  vol.  3,  pp.  482  to  491— Niles'  Weekly  Register,  vol.  7,  pp.  294  to  301— Encyclopedia 
Americana,  Article  CONSCRIPTION. — ED. 


144  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VII. 

the  war.  On  the  same  day  that  he  reported  the  bill  for 
classifying  the  militia,  (27th  October,)  he  also  reported 
a  bill  "  to  authorize  the  President  of  the  United  States  to 
accept  the  services  of  volunteers  who  may  associate  and 
organize  themselves,  and  offer  their  services  to  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States ;"  also  a  bill  "  to  provide  for 
the  further  defence  of  the  frontiers  of  the  United  States,  by 
authorizing  the  President  to  augment  the  present  Military 
Establishment." 

On  the  2d  of  December,  the  House  being  in  commit- 
tee of  the  whole  on  these  several  bills,  as  well  a>  two  bills 
from  the  Senate  on  that  subject,  the  Senate  bill  authoriz- 
ing the  President  to  call  into  service  80,430  militia,  to 
serve  two  years,  for  the  defence  of  the  frontiers,  being  in 
order, 

Mr.  Troup  said,  that  the  bill  before  them  being  a  bill 
from  the  Senate,  which  had  not  been  referred  to  the  Mili- 
tary Committee,  but  which  hud  boon  taken  up  on  the  mo- 
tion of  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  (Mr.  Callmun,) 
the  Military  Committee,  as  such,  were  strangers  to  its  pro- 
visions. It  was  not  to  be  expected,  therefore,  that  he  could 
give  to  the  House  an  exposition  of  its  principles  and  de- 
tails. The  gentleman  from  South  Carolina  was,  no  doubt, 
prepared  to  do  so.  For  himself,  Mr.  T.  said,  he  was  op- 
posed to  the  measure  of  the  Senate,  and  would  therefore 
move  to  strike  out  the  first  section  of  the  bill ;  it  would 
try  the  principle.  The  measure  of  the  Senate,  he  humbly 
conceived,  was  inadequate  to  the  object.  It  proposed  to 
give  you  a  militia  force,  when  you  wanted  not  a  militia  but 
a  regular  force.  He  respectfully  suggested  to  the  House, 
in  considering  this  subject,  the  propriety  of  endeavoring, 
in  the  first  place,  to  establish  the  principle  on  which  they 
would  rest  their  military  measures  for  the  further  prosecu- 
tion of  the  war  ;  whether  it  were  the  principle  of  classifi- 
cation and  draught,  or  classification  and  penalty  ;  whether 
the  principle  proposed  by  the  Senate,  or  any  other  princi- 
ple, they  could  not,  he  humbly  conceived,  arrive  "at  any 
conclusion  satisfactory  to  the  House,  or  useful  and  honor- 
able to  the  country,  without  adopting  this  mode  of  proceed- 
ing. Having  established  the  principle,  the  Committee  of 
the  Whole,  or  a  select  committee,  might  consider  the  de- 
tails. 


CHAP.  VII.]  SPEECH  ON  WAR  MEASURE*.  145 

Mr.  T.  said,  lie  very  well  knew  that  mankind  were  gov- 
erned by  their  hopes  and  fears  ;  more  by  their  hopes  than 
their  fears  ;  and  he  was  not  insensible  of  the  effect  which  the 
dispatches  received  yesterday  from  our  Ministers  at  Ghent 
might  have  on  the  measures  under  consideration.  He 
should  be  very  sorry  if  the  effect  would  be  to  induce  the 
Legislature  to  discontinue  or  relax  the  preparations  neces- 
sary for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the  war.  If  such  should 
be  the  effect,  the  enemy  might  have  good  reason  to  exult  in 
the  success  of  a  diplomatic  trick  played  off  at  Ghent, 
which,  lulling  us  into  a  false  security,  would  enable  him  to 
strike  us  at  the  opening  of  the  next  campaign,  unarmed 
and  unprepared.  If  he  should  be  able  to  do  so,  he  would 
begin  to  consider  himself  a  match  for  the  Yankees  in  cun- 
ning, and  we  would  repent  when  it  was  too  late.  Mr.  T.  said 
he  did  not  mean  to  say  we  would  not  have  peace — politics 
were  too  uncertain  to  justify  such  a  declaration — we  may 
have  peace  in  a  few  weeks.  He  only  meant  to  say,  that 
calculations  founded  on  events  which  may  happen  at  Ghent 
or  at  Vienna,  and  which  would  induce  the  Legislature  to 
relax  in  the  necessary  preparations  for  the  next  campaign, 
ought  not  to  be  indulged ;  measures  ought  to  be  taken,  not 
on  a  supposition  of  speedy  peace,  but  of  protracted  war. 
If  peace  happened,  the  preparation  for  war  would  do  no 
harm.  If  peace  did  not  happen,  the  want  of  preparauon 
would  do  much  harm  ;  it  might  lose  the  next  campaign,  and 
losing  the  next  campaign  might  lose  the  objects  of  the  war. 
I  only  suggest,  therefore,  sir,  that  it  is  wise  and  prudent 
to  act  as  if  the  negotiations  at  Ghent  would  certainly  fail. 
In  submitting,  sir,  to  the  committee,  the  few  observations 
with  which  I  intend  to  trouble  them  on  this  motion,  I  will 
endeavor  to  satisfy  them  that  the  measure  proposed  by  the 
Senate  ought  not  to  be  taken,  because  it  places  our  reliance 
for  a  successful  prosecution  of  the  war  on  irregular  militia ; 
whereas,  our  reliance  ought  to  be  placed  on  disciplined 
troops,  and  that  some  other  measure,  therefore,  ought  to 
be  resorted  to — some  measure  calculated  to  fill  the  regular 
ranks  and  augment  the  regular  establishment. 

In  making  provision  for  the  further  prosecution  of  the 
war,  there  would  be  but  one  object  common  to  all — to 
bring  the  war  to  a  speedy  and  honorable  termination  by 
all  the  means  in  the  power  of  the  Legislature.  At  least,  it 
would  be  an  object  common  to  every  genuine  American, 
because  every  American  had  an  interest  in  it.  The  war 
was  a  war  for  the  country,  and  the  result  of  it,  whatever  it 

19 


14(3  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTT.  [CHAP.  VII. 

might  be,  whether  glorious  or  inglorious,  would  determine 
the  character  of  the  country  and  government.  If  glorious, 
every  American,  without  distinction  of  party,  would  partic- 
ipate in  that  glory  ;  if  inglorious,  every  American,  without 
distinction  of  party,  would  participate  in  the  infamy  of  it. 
He  knew  very  well  that  certain  gentlemen  had  said  the 
war  was  a  party  war,  a  war  for  the  administration — but 

fentlemen  would  find,  ere  long,  their  mistake.  They  would 
nd  that  Europe,  the  civilized  world,  who  will  alone  be 
competent  to  pass  judgment  upon  this  subject,  will  not 
stop  to  inquire  by  what  party  in  America  this  war  was  de- 
clared— by  what  party  it  was  prosecuted — by  what  party 
brought  to  its  termination.  No,  sir,  they  will  look  to  the 
result,  and  to  the  result  only,  and  as  that  result  i<  glorious  or 
inglorious  for  the  country,  so  will  they  determine  the  charac- 
ter of  this  country  and  government.  Every  American, 
therefore,  is  interested  to  bring  the  war  to  an  honorable 
termination  by  all  the  means  in  his  power.  But  how  is  this 
to  be  done?  I  answer,  in  the  spirit  and  language  of  per- 
fect simplicity,  by  endeavoring  to  create  a  motive  in  the 
enemy  to  discontinue  the  contest.  Hut  how  is  this  to  be 
effected?  I  answer,  in  the  same  spirit  and  language,  by 
endeavoring  to  wound  him  whore  he  is  vulnerable.  The 
enemy  is  vulnerable  in  two  points  ;  in  his  commerce  on  the 
ocean — in  his  territorial  possessions  neighboring  tu  us.  If, 
by  any  possibility,  (which  I  do  not  admit,)  he  should  suc- 
ceed so  effectually  to  blockade  our  ports  and  harbors  as  to 
shut  up  completely  our  public  and  private  armed  vessels, 
he  will  cease  to  be  vulnerable  in  his  commerce;  he  will  re- 
main vulnerable  in  his  territorial  possessions  only.  There, 
sir,  I  would  carry  the  war  without  Dentation  ;  there  I  would 
endeavor  to  create  a  motive  in  him  to  discontinue  the  con- 
test. In  proportion  as  he  values  his  territory,  in  the  same 
proportion  will  he  make  sacrifices  to  preserve  it ;  as  you 
endanger  the  existence  of  his  territory,  in  the  same  degree 
will  be  his  motive  to  discontinue  the  war  to  preserve  it. 
That  he  sets  a  high  value  on  his  territories  you  have  the 
strongest  evidence.  He  has  already  made  great  exertions 
to  preserve  them  ;  he  has  been  able  to  preserve  them  only 
because  you  have  not  made  great  efforts  to  conquer  them. 
You  never  will  conquer  them  by  taking  the  measure  of 
the  Senate.  "Will  any  man  believe  we  can  induce  the  ene- 
my to  discontinue  the  war,  by  manning  the  lines  of  our 
frontiers — standing  on  the  defensive — receiving  and  repel- 
ling his  blows  as  well  as  we  can  ?  No,  sir,  so  far  from  inducing 
the  enemy  to  abandon  the  contest,  this  mode  of  pros- 


CHAP.  VII.]  SPEECH  ON  WAR  MEASURED. 

ecuting  the  war  would  only  increase  his  motive  to  continue 
it,  whilst  the  motive  on  our  part  to  discontinue  it  would  be 
daily  and  hourly  increasing.  A  dishonorable  peace  would 
terminate  the  contest — the  surrender  of  our  independence 
would  terminate  it — nothing  else  could.  I  would,  there- 
fore, carry  the  war  into  the  enemy's  country,  and  with  a 
force  enabling  you  to  wound  him  there.  But  the  military 
force  of  the  enemy  has  been  greatly  augmented.  It  is  un- 
necessary to  speak  of  the  events  by  which  this  augmenta- 
tion has  been  brought  about — it  is  sufficient  that  we  know 
and  feel  it.  Ordinary  prudence  requires  that  your  own 
military  force  be  augmented  ;  not  merely  in  the  same  pro- 
portion— in  a  much  greater  proportion.  In  a  much  greater 
proportion,  because,  all  other  things  being  equal,  he  has 
one  decided  advantage  over  you — an  advantage  which  we 
can  neither  destroy  nor  remove — I  mean  the  command  of 
the  ocean,  by  which  he  compels  you  to  stand  upon  the  de- 
fensive on  a  line  of  frontier  of  2000  miles,  and  to  defend 
that  line  with  100,000  men  against  10,000  afloat.  He 
comes,  no  man  can  tell  when,  no  man  can  tell  where  ;  and, 
to  be  prepared  at  all,  he  compels  you  to  be  prepared  at  all 
points.  I  say,  therefore,  your,  augmentation  ought  to  be  in 
much  greater  proportion  than  his  augmentation.  But  what 
description  of  our  military  force  will  you  augment  ?  Sir, 
if,  after  what  has  happened,  I  could  for  a  moment  believe 
there  could  be  any  doubt  or  hesitation  upon  this  point,  I 
would  consider  everything  as  lost;  then,  indeed,  would 
there  be  an  end  of  hope  and  of  confidence — 'then,  indeed, 
would  there  be  nothing  before  us  but  gloom  and  despond- 
ency, and  the  horror  of  despair.  But  you  will  not  doubt 
— you  will  place  your  reliance  on  a  disciplined  regular 
force  ;  upon  a  regular  disciplined  force  alone  can  you  rely 
for  success.  It  matters  not  whether  you  determine  to  con- 
duct the  war  offensively  or  defensively  :  if  you  determine  to 
prosecute  it  offensively,  you  ought  to  rely  mainly  on  a  regular 
force — because,  to  be  successful,  you  must  meet  and  beat 
in  the  open  field  the  regular  veteran  troops  of  Europe. 
]STot  one  step  can  you  advance  in  the  conquest  of  Canada, 
until  you  are  prepared  to  do  this.  This  can  only  be  done 
by  regular  disciplined  troops.  If  you  determine  to  prose-- 
cute the  war  defensively,  you  ought  to  rely  mainly  on  regu-- 
lar  troops ;  for  you  must  expect  to  meet  and  to  repel  regu lar 
disciplined  troops-and  this  can  be  done  most  effectually  with 
regular  disciplined  troops.  It  will  be  done,  not  only  more 
effectually,  but  more  economically ;  not  only  more  econo- 
mically, but  more  conveniently  for  the  country.  It  will 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAI-.  VII. 

save  the  militia  of  the  country,  and  in  saving  the  militia  it 
will  save  the  active  industry  'of  the  country— it  will  save, 
of  course,  the  product  of  that  industry ;  the  product  of 
that  industry  is  national  wealth— it  will  save  the  national 
wealth. 

But  not  only  do  these  considerations  urge  you,  in  my 
humble  opinion,  to  resort  to  all  the  means  within  y« nil- 
power  to  fill  the  ranks  and  augment  the  regular  establish- 
ment; other  considerations  call  upon  you  to  make  the  army 
as  respectable  in  number  as  it  is  already  in  character — 
considerations  growing  out  of  that  character.  An  army 
little  better  than  two  years  old,  collected  hastily  from  the 
plough,  the  loom  and  the  workshops — without  discipline, 
without  even  the  rudiments  of  the  military  science — the 
officer  to  be  instructed,  that  he  might  be  qualified  to  in- 
struct the  soldier — this  army  has  performed  deeds  of  hero- 
ism and  of  gallant  daring  that  would  have  done  honor-  to 
the  best  days  of  Greece  and  Rome,  that  will  adorn  the  j 
of  your  own  history.  It  is  true  that  this  army  has  not  from  the 
beginning  every  where  triumphed;  it  is  true,  it  has  not  from 
the  beginning  carried  everything  before  it  ;  it  had  not 
strength,  it  had  not  numbers..  Hut  this  much  may  he  said  of 
it,  and  with  truth,  that,  from  the  beginning  to  this  moment,  it 
has  in  no  one  instance  dishonored  the  standard  which  it  1"  >iv  ; 
unless,  indeed,  a  solitary  instance  may  be  appealed  to  as  an 
exception — an  instance  as  yet  of  doubtful  and  undecided 
character.  More  recently,  its  triumphs  have  been  more 
brilliant;  in  open  field,  man  to  man,  it  has  vanquished  the 
conquerors  of  the  conquerors  of  Europe.  Who  can  hesitate, 
therefore,  (the  war  continuing,)  to  make  this  army  as  re- 
spectable in  number  as  it  is  already  in  character,  to  enable 
it  to  continue  these  triumphs?  The  bill  from  the  Senate, 
instead  of  proposing  this,  proposes  to  authorize  the  Piv-i- 
dent  to  call  upon  the  States  for  eighty  thousand  raw  militia  ; 
and  this  is  to  be  our  reliance  for  the  successful  prosecution 
of  the  war.  Take  my  word  tor  it,  sir,  that  if  you  do  rely 
upon  it,  (the  military  power  of  the  enemy  continuing  undi- 
vided,) defeat,  disaster  and  disgrace  must  follow.  As  an 
auxiliary  or  secondary  force,  the  militia  may  be  relied  on  ; 
as  principal,  in  a  contest  with  regular  troops,  never,  lint 
the  state  of  the  army  :  upon  this  part  of  the  subject,  sir,  I 
will  say  nothing,  because  I  can  say  nothing  that  you  are 
not  already  in  possession  of.  You  hare  authorized  a  force  of 
sixty  odd  thousand  men;  you  have  raised  thirty  odd  thousand; 
you  have  a  deficiency  of  twenty  odd  thousand  to  supply  ; 
these  thirty  odd  thousand  men,  already  raised,  are  distrib- 


CHAP.  VII.]  SPEECH  ON  WAR  MEASURES.  149 

uted  over  a  line  of  four  thousand  miles  of  frontier ;  is  it 
any  wonder,  then,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  Canada  has  not  been 
conquered  ?  No,  sir.  the  wonder  is  not  that  Canada  has 
not  been  conquered  :  the  wonder  is  that  this  little  army- 
has  been  able  to  keep  its  ground  ;  the  enemy  has  been 
stronger  in  regular  troops  at  all  points  from  the  beginning, 
and  the  very  annunciation  of  this  fact  is  enough  to  cover 
our  little  army  with  glory.  You  have  a  deficiency  of 
twenty  odd  thousand  to  supply ;  how  will  you  supply  it  ? 
Assuredly  the  bill  from  the  Senate  will  not  supply  it;  will 
the  mode  heretofore  resorted  to,  supply  it?  Will  the  re- 
cruiting system  supply  it?  No,  sir;  the  recruiting  system 
has  failed  ;  I  mean  it  has  failed  to  fill  your  ranks.  What 
are  the  facts  upon  this  subject  1  They  are,  that  two  mil- 
lions of  dollars  have  been  applied,  since  January  last,  and 
thirteen  thousand  men  have  been  enlisted;  this,  it  may  be 
said,  is  doing  very  well.  So  it  is  ;  but  what  is  the  general  re- 
sult ?  The  general  result  is,  that  our  army  is  very  little  strong- 
er now  than  it  was  this  time  last  year;  and  in  testing  the 
operation  of  the  system,  it  is  to  the  general  result  we  must 
look.  At  the  rate  of  thirteen  thousand  men  per  annum,  it 
would  take  five  years  to  raise  the  authorized  force  ;  the  re- 
cruiting system  therefore  has  failed,  it  has  failed  to  fill  our 
ranks.  I  do  not  mean  to  say,  sir,  that  the  recruiting  system, 
with  the  present  high  bounty  and  encouragement,  would 
not  eventually  fill  our  ranks ;  I  am  not  disposed  to  say  that 
it  would  not  (provided  the  power  of  the  enemy  had  con- 
tinued broken  and  divided  by  the  troubles  of  the  continent,) 
have  answered  our  purpose  ;  but  I  do  say,  that  under  ex- 
isting circumstances  and  for  our  present  purpose,  the  re- 
cruiting system  ought  not  to  be  relied  on  ;  it  cannot  be 
relied  on  to  fill  our  ranks  by  the  opening  of  the  next  cam- 
paign, and  to  risk  the  loss  of  the  next  campaign  is  to  risk 
the  loss  of  everything.  But  is  there  no  mode  to  which  you 
can  resort  for  filling  the  ranks,  but  voluntary  enlistment  ? 
I  would  be  extremely  sorry  if  we  could  not.  I  have  al- 
ways thought  this  Government,  when  administered  in  the 
true  spirit  of  the  Constitution,  the  strongest  government  in 
the  world,  even  for  the  purposes  of  war ;  but  if  the  doc- 
trine set  up  of  late  be  true,  this  is  the  weakest  and  most 
contemptible  government  on  earth  ;  it  is  neither  fit  for  war 
nor  peace  ;  it  has  failed  of  all  the  ends  for  which  govern- 
ments are  established.  It  cannot  be  true  that  this  Govern- 
ment, charged  with  the  general  defence,  authorized  to 
declare  war  and  to  raise  armies,  can  have  but  one  mode  of 
raising  armies,  whilst  every  other  government  that  has  ever 


150  LIFE   OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VII. 

existed  has  had  an  absolute  power  over  the  population  of 
the  country  for  this  purpose,  and  has  actually  exercised  it. 
But  this  question  is  not  properly  before  the  House,  and  I 
will  not  go  into  an  argument  to  show  that  you  can,  like  other 
governments,  resort  to  other  modes  of  raising  armies  than 
that  of  voluntary  enlistment ;  that  you  can  resort  to  classi- 
fication and  draft,  to  classification  and  penalty,  or  any  other 
mode  which  a  sound  discretion  may  in  a  particular  state  of 
the  country  dictate  and  justify.  All  I  intend  to  say  at 
present  is,  that  you  have  an  absolute  power  over  the  popu- 
lation of  this  country  for  this  purpose,  and  that  in  the 
present  state  of  the  country  it  is  wiser  to  resort  to  classifi- 
cation and  draft,  than  to  resort  to  the  bill  from  the  Senate; 
the  one  will  give  the  men  certainly  and  expeditiously,  the 
other  will  not.  But,  sir,  compare  the  measure  of  the  Sen- 
ate with  the  measures  proposed  by  your  own  committee, 
and  which  are  before  you.  The  measure  of  the  Senate  pro- 
poses to  authorize  the  President  to  call  out  eighty  thousand 
militia  for  two  years,  and  this  is  called  a  remedy  for  the 
evil  of  State.  Now,  sir,  the  evil  of  State,  as  I  understand 
it,  is  not  the  want  of  a  militia  force,  but  the  want  of  a  regular 
force.  The  evil  of  which  the  country  complains,  of  which 
the  Government  complains,  of  which  the  militia  themselves 
complain  most  grievously,  is  the  number  of  militia  in 
service ;  the  incessant  harassment,  vexation  and  oppres- 
sion of  the  militia,  and  the  extraordinary  and  burdensome 
expense  of  that  particular  service.  As  a  remedy  for  this 
grievance,  the  Senate  propose  to  detach  eighty  thousand 
militia.  The  President  has  at  command,  and  lias  always 
had  at  command,  a  million  of  militia  ;  and  in  this  extraor- 
dinary crisis  of  our  aifairs,  when  pressed  by  a  formidable 
enemy,  and  surrounded  with  difficulties,  the  remedy  pro- 
posed by  the  Senate  is  eighty  thousand  militia,  which,  it 
must  be  admitted  on  all  hands  can  be  no  better,  for  at  least 
the  next  campaign,  than  raw  militia  called  out  in  the  ordi- 
nary way.  But  the  bill  proposes  to  furnish  regular  troops. 
How?  By  holding  up  in  terrorem,  a  militia  classification 
and  draft ;  exempting  every  three  classes  which  shall 
furnish  two  regular  soldiers,  from  the  liability  to  furnish 
three  militia  men.  Do  the  friends  of  this  measure  believe 
— will  they  with  any  degree  of  confidence  assert,  that  it 
will  have  the  eifect,  even  partially,  to  fill  the  ranks  ?  I 
think  not.  And  suppose  it  should  fail  to  furnish  regular 
soldiers,  what  will  be  our  condition  in  the  months  of  July 
and  August  next?  Much  worse,  sir,  than  our  condition  in 
the  months  of  July  and  August  last.  The  war  continuing, 


CHAP,  VII.]  SPEECH  ON  WAR  MEASURES.  151 

the  power  of  the  enemy  unbroken,  our  condition  will  be 
desperate.  The  regular  force  every  day  falling  off,  (for  be 
it  remembered  these  eighty  thousand  militia  will  be  with- 
drawn from  the  operations  of  the  recruiting  service,)  we 
shall  have  to  oppose  to  the  enemy  a  remnant  of  regular 
troops,  and  these  eighty  thousand  raw  militia — and  who 
will  answer  for  the  consequences?  In  the  months  of 
August  and  September  last,  we  had  in  the  field  the  regular 
army  and  upwards  of  one  hundred  thousand  militia,  and 
we  nowhere  found  ourselves  too  strong.  It  is  true,  the 
Senate  propose  to  improve  the  recruiting  system — an  im- 
provement which  two  years  ago  this  House  proposed  to  the 
Senate,  but  which  the  Senate  then  thought  proper  to  reject. 
I  mean  the  enlistment  of  young  men  between  the  ages 
of  eighteen  and  twenty-one.  But  if  these  eighty  thousand 
militia  for  two  years  should  happen  to  be,  as  they  are  like- 
ly to  be,  that  very  description  of  population  upon  which 
this  system  would  otherwise  operate,  what  hope  can  be  en-  • 
tertained  that  the  recruiting  system,  even  with  its  improve- 
ments, will  be  as  productive  the  next  year  as  the  last  ? 
I  humbly  conceive,  Mr.  Speaker,  that  the  measure  of  the 
Senate,  proceeding  from  the  best  intentions,  will  fail  in  the 
accomplishment  of  our  object.  I  conceive,  with  much 
deference  to  the  House,  that  the  measures  reported  by  their 
own  committee  are  much  to  be  preferred.  They  propose — 
first,  to  augment  the  regular  establishment  to  one  hundred 
thousand  men  ;  second,  to  authorize  the  President  to  accept, 
under  liberal  encouragements,  the  service  of  volunteer 
corps  ;  third,  to  authorize  the  President  to  receive  into  the 
service  of  the  United  States,  State  troops,  which  may  be 
made  to  serve  in  lieu  of  the  militia  of  such  States.  The 
principle  of  the  system  is,  to  substitute,  as  far  as  we  are 
able,  a  regular  force  for  a  militia  force,  as  more  efficient, 
more  economical,  and,  for  the  militia  themselves,  more  con- 
venient— and  one  hundred  thousand  regulars  would  take 
the  place  of  two  hundred  thousand  militia — two  hundred 
thousand  militia  would  cost  as  much  as  three  hundred 
thousand  regulars.  If  we  can  command  an  hundred  thous- 
and regular  troops,  it  may,  notwithstanding,  be  necessary, 
on  particular  emergencies,  to  resort  to  the  militia.  To  en- 
able the  government  still  further  to  spare  the  militia,  vol- 
unteers are  authorized.  They  also  will  be  more  efficient 
than  ordinary  militia.  It  is  impossible  to  say  to  what  ex- 
tent these  corps  will  offer  themselves — to  whatever  extent 
the  government  is  enabled  to  avail  itself  of  their  services, 
to  the  same  extent  will  the  militia  be  saved.  If  govern- 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  VII. 

for  the  regular  Army,  within  a  given  number  of  days,  in 
lieu  of  said  tax. 

Resolved,  That  the  said  committee  be  instructed  to  in- 
quire into  the  expediency  of  augmenting  the  direct  tax  for 
the  present  year,  so  as  that  it  may  be  sufficient  to  procure 
thousand  men  at hundred  dollars  each. 

The  resolutions  were  denounced,  amongst  other  reasons 
assigned,  because  of  their  alleged  tendency  to  obstruct  the 
recruiting  service ;  and  the  plan  proposed  was  denominated 
a  "wild  project." 

The  House  having  agreed  to  consider  the  rcsoluti 

Mr.  Troup  (the  chairman  of  the  Military  Committee.) 
said  that,  being  a  member  of  the  committee  to  whom  it  was 
proposed  toreter  this  subject,  it  did  not  become  him  to  ex- 
press any  decided  opinion  on  it.  All  he  hoped  was,  that 
the  House  would  not  instruct  the  committee  on  tins  head, 
imless  determined  to  perfect  the  proposition  into  the  shape 
of  a  law;  inasmuch  as  the  committee,  in  its  ministerial 
capacity,  had  already  cognizance  over  this  subject,  and 
could  report  on  it  without  instruction,  if  deemed  by  them 
expedient.  With  respect  to  the  military  subjects  of  the 
present  session,  the  House  could  not  fail  to  recollect  that  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  War  had  stated  M-hat  force  we 
had,  and  what  addition  to  it  was  desirable  for  the  further 
defence  of  the  country.  It  had  been  proposed  to  ('onirre>< 
to  augment  the  regular  force  to  one  hundred  thousand  men, 
for  which  purpose  it  was  proposed  to  resort  to  the  most  en- 
ergetic means.  It  was  necessary  for  the  committee  of 
this  House,  said  Mr.  T.,  to  endeavor  to  ascertain  the  opinion  • 
of  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  as  to  the  different  modes 
of  raising  men.  We  did  so  ;  and  found  that  no  ell'icac-inus 
measure,  calculated  certainly  and  promptly  to  iill  the  reg- 
ular army,  could  be  effectually  resorted  to.  Measures  were 
matured  and  proposed  by  the  committee,  but  were  not  pressed 
on  the  House  from  the  solemn  conviction  that  there  was  no 
disposition  in  the  Legislature  to  act  finally  on  the  subject. 
This  being  ascertained,  other  measures  were  adopted  to  im- 
prove the  recruiting  service,  to  authorixe  the  acceptance  into 
the  service  of  volunteers  and  State  troops  in  the  nature  of  reg- 
ulars. If  the  whole  number  authorized  of  the  two  latter 
could  be  commanded,  together  with  the  sixty  thousand 
regulars,  (supposing  the  ranks  to  be  filled,)  it  would  give 
an  effective  force  of  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  men, 
and  might  be  reasonably  expected  to  produce  one  hundred 


CHAP.  VII.]  HIS  ARMY  MEASURES.  155 

thousand ;  as  great  a  number,  perhaps,  as,  under  pres- 
ent circumstances,  the  finances  of  the  country  would  bear. 
Even  at  this  late  day  of  the  session,  however,  Mr.  T.  said, 
he  was  willing  to  resort  to  the  only  certain  and  effectual 
mode  of  augmenting  the  regular  army  to  a  hundred  thou- 
sand men,  to  the  support  of  which  the  finances  of  the 
country  might,  before  the  adjournment,  be  made  adequate. 
He  hoped,  at  least,  the  House  would  so  decide  on  this  ques- 
tion, as  to  make  the  vote  on  it  decisive  of  their  real  views 
in  regard  to  it. 

The  resolutions  were,  finally,  referred  to  a  committee  of 
the  whole  House  ;  but  the  foregoing  speech  of  Col.  Troup 
gives  the  best  and  the  true  reasons  why  they  were  never 
afterwards  called  up  or  acted  on. 

On  the  same  day  that  he  reported  the  bill  for  classifying 
the  militia,  (27th  October,)  he  had  also,  as  we  have  seen,  re- 
ported a  bill  "to  authorize  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  accept  the  services  of  volunteers  who  may  asso- 
ciate and  organize  themselves,  and  offer  their  services  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  " ;  also  a  bill  "  to  provide 
for  the  further  defence  of  the  frontiers  of  the  United  States, 
by  authorizing  the  President  to  augment  the  present  Mili- 
tary Establishment."  The  former  of  these  two  was,  after 
amendment,  passed  into  a  law  on  the  27th  of  January  after- 
wards ;  and,  at  a  prior  day  of  the  session,  an  act  was  passed 
making  further  provision  for  filling  the  ranks  of  the  Army 
of  the  United  States.  These  were,  it  would  seem,  the  "  other 
measures"  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the  foregoing 
speech,  and  which  rendered  useless  any  effort  to  raise  troops 
by  drafting  or  conscription.  Let  those  who  might  be  dis- 
posed to  censure  the  Secretary  of  "War  and  the  Chairman 
of  the  Military  Committee  for  proposing  this  plan-  for  con- 
ducting the  war,  remember  the  actual  condition  of  the 
country  at  the  time,  the  difficulties  attending  the  recruiting 
service,  and  the  levy  of  troops  in  any  other  way ;  and  that 
the  judgment  of  eminent  military  men  has  been  in  favor  of 
this  method  as  the  proper  one  for  raising  the  most  effective 
military  force. 

[1815.]    On  the  8th  of  January  the  battle  of  New  Or- 


154:  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.   TKOUP.  [CHAP.  VII. 

for  the  regular  Army,  within  a  given  number  of  days,  in 
lieu  of  said  tax. 

Resolved^  That  the  said  committee  be  instructed  to  in- 
quire into  the  expediency  of  augmenting  the  direct  tax  for 
uie  present  year,  so  as  that  it  may  be  sufficient  to  procure 
thousand  men  at hundred  dollars  each. 

The  resolutions  were  denounced,  amongst  other  reasons 
assigned,  because  of  their  alleged  tendency  to  obstruct  the 
recruiting  service ;  and  the  plan  proposed  was  denominated 
a  "wild  project." 

The  House  having  agreed  to  consider  the  resolutions, 

Mr.  Troup  (the  chairman  of  the  Military  Committee.) 
said  that,  being  a  member  of  the  committee  to  whom  it  was. 
proposed  toreter  this  subject,  it  did  not  become  him  to  ex- 
press any  decided  opinion  on  it.  All  he  hoped  was  that 
the  House  would  not  instruct  the  committee  on  this  head, 
unless  determined  to  perfect  the  proposition  into  the  shape 
of  a  law;  inasmuch  as  the  committee,  in  its  ministerial 
capacity,  had  already  cognizance  over  this  subject,  and 
could  report  on  it  without  instruction,  if  deemed  by  them 
expedient.  "With  respect  to  the  military  subjects  of  the 
present  session,  the  House  could  not  fail  to  recollect  that  the 
report  of  the  Secretary  of  "War  had  stated  what  force  we 
had,  and  what  addition  to  it  was  desirable  for  the  further 
defence  of  the  country.  It  had  been  proposed  to  Con- 
to  augment  the  regular  force  to  one  hundred  thousand  men. 
for  which  purpose  it  was  proposed  to  resort  to  the  mos! 
ergetic  means.  It  was  necessary  for  the  committee  of 
this  House,  said  Mr.  T.,  to  endeavor  to  ascertain  the  opinion  • 
of  both  branches  of  the  Legislature  as  to  the  different  modes 
of  raising  men.  "We  did  so  ;  and  found  that  no  efficacious 
measure,  calculated  certainly  and  promptly  to  fill  the  reg- 
ular army,  could  be  effectually  resorted  to.  Measures  were 
matured  and  proposed  by  the  committee,  but  were  not  pressed 
on  the  House  from  the  solemn  conviction  that  there  was  no 
disposition  in  the  Legislature  to  act  finally  on  the  subject. 
This  being  ascertained,  other  measures  were  adopted  to  im- 
prove the  recruiting  service,  to  authorize  the  acceptance  into 
the  service  of  volunteers  and  State  troops  in  the  nature  of  reg- 
ulars. If  the  whole  number  authorized  of  the  two  latter 
could  be  commanded,  together  with  the  sixty  thousand 
regulars,  (supposing  the  ranks  to  be  filled,)  it  would  give 
an  effective  force  of  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  men, 
and  might  be  reasonably  expected  to  produce  one  hundred 


CHAP.  VII.l  HIS  ARMY  MEASURES.  155 

thousand ;  as  great  a  number,  perhaps,  as,  under  pres- 
ent circumstances,  the  finances  of  the  country  would  bear. 
Even  at  this  late  day  of  the  session,  however,  Mr.  T.  said, 
he  was  willing  to  resort  to  the  only  certain  and  effectual 
mode  of  augmenting  the  regular  army  to  a  hundred  thou- 
sand men,  to  the  support  of  which  the  finances  of  the 
country  might,  before  the  adjournment,  be  made  adequate. 
He  hoped,  at  least,  the  House  would  so  decide  on  this  ques- 
tion, as  to  make  the  vote  on  it  decisive  of  their  real  views 
in  regard  to  it. 

The  resolutions  were,  finally,  referred  to  a  committee  of 
the  whole  House  ;  but  the  foregoing  speech  of  Col.  Troup 
gives  the  best  and  the  true  reasons  why  they  were  never 
afterwards  called  up  or  acted  on. 

On  the  same  day  that  he  reported  the  bill  for  classifying 
the  militia,  (27th  October,)  he  had  also,  as  we  have  seen,  re- 
ported a  bill  "to  authorize  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  accept  the  services  of  volunteers  who  may  asso- 
ciate and  organize  themselves,  and  offer  their  services  to  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  " ;  also  a  bill  "  to  provide 
for  the  further  defence  of  the  frontiers  of  the  United  States, 
by  authorizing  the  President  to  augment  the  present  Mili- 
tary Establishment."  The  former  of  these  two  was,  after 
amendment,  passed  into  a  law  on  the  27th  of  January  after- 
wards ;  and,  at  a  prior  day  of  the  session,  an  act  was  passed 
making  further  provision  for  filling  the  ranks  of  the  Army 
of  the  United  States.  These  were,  it  would  seem,  the  "  other 
measures"  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the  foregoing 
speech,  and  which  rendered  useless  any  effort  to  raise  troops 
by  drafting  or  conscription.  Let  those  who  might  be  dis- 
posed to  censure  the  Secretary  of  War  and  the  Chairman 
of  the  Military  Committee  for  proposing  this  plan-  for  con- 
ducting the  war,  remember  the  actual  condition  of  the 
country  at  the  time,  the  difficulties  attending  the  recruiting 
service,  and  the  levy  of  troops  in  any  other  way  ;  and  that 
the  judgment  of  eminent  military  men  has  been  in  favor  of 
this  method  as  the  proper  one  for  raising  the  most  effective 
military  force. 

[1815.]    On  the  8th  of  January  the  battle  of  New  Or- 


156  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTJP.  [CiiAr.  VII. 

leans   was  f  ought   and   won.     Eesolutious  of  thanks  and 

o 

congratulations  were  introduced  in  Loth  Houses — in  the 
Senate  by  Mr.  Giles,  and  in  the  House  by  Col.  Troup.  A 
treaty  of  peace  had  been  signed  at  Ghent,  on  the  :Mth  of 
December,  but  the  news  of  it  did  not  reach  this  country 
until  the  llth  of  February.  On  the  20th  of  that  month, 
the  President  laid  before  Congress  copies  of  the  treaty,  the 
ratifications  of  which  had  been  duly  exchanged. 

On  the  16th  of  February,  the  resolutions  from  the  Senate 
expressive  of  the  thanks  of  Congress  to  Gen.  Jackson  and 
the  troops  under  his  command,  being  amended  and  coming 
up  before  the  House  on  the  question  of  ordering  them  to  a 
third  reading, 

Mr.  Troup,  of  Georgia,  said  that  he  congratulated  the 
House  on  the  return  of  peace;  if  the  peace  be  honorable, 
he  might  be  permitted  to  congratulate  the  House  on  the 
glorious  termination  of  the  war.  He  might  be  permitted 
to  congratulate  them  on  the  glorious  termination  of  the  most 
glorious  war  ever  waged  by  any  people.  To  the  glory  of  it 
General  Jackson  and  his  gallant  army  have  contributed  not 
a  little.  I  cannot,  sir,  perhaps  language  cannot,  do  justice 
to  the  merits  of  General  Jackson  and  the  troops  under  his 
command,  or  to  the  sensibility  of  the  House.  I  will  there- 
fore forbear  to  trouble  the  House  with  the  usual  prefatory 
remarks;  it  is  a  fit  subject  for  the  genius  of  Homer.  But 
there  was  a  spectacle  connected  with  this  subject  upon 
which  the  human  mind  would  delight  to  dwell — upon  which 
the  human  mind  could  not  fail  to  dwell  with  peculiar  pride 
and  exultation.  It  was  the  yeomen  of  the  country  inarch- 
ing to  the  defence  of  the  city  of  Orleans,  leaving  their 
wives  and  children  and  firesides,  at  a  moment's  warning ; 
on  the  one  side,  committing  themselves  to  the  bosom  of 
the  mother  of  rivers ;  on  the  other,  taking  the  route  of  the 
trackless  and  savage  wilderness  for  hundreds  of  miles  ; 
meeting  at  the  place  of  rendezvous — seeking,  attacking  and 
beating  the  enemy  in  a  pitched  battle — repulsing  three 
desperate  assaults  with  great  loss  to  him — killing,  wound- 
ing and  efcpturing  more  than  four  thousand  of  his  force— 
and  finally  compelling  him  to  fly,  precipitately,  the  country 
he  had  boldly  invaded  :  the  farmers  of  the  country  tri- 
umphantly victorious  over  the  conquerors  of  the  conquerors 
of  Europe.  "I  came, I  saw,  I  conquered,"  says  the  Amer- 


CHAP.  VII.]     THE  MILITARY  PEACE  ESTABLISHMENT.  157 

lean  husbandman,  fresh  from  his  plough.  "  The  proud  vet- 
eran who  triumphed  in  Spain,  and  carried  terror  into  the 
warlike  population  of  France,  was  humbled  beneath  the 
power  of  my  arm.  The  God  of  Battles  and  of  Righteous- 
ness took  part  with  the  defenders  of  their  country,  and  the 
foe  was  scattered  before  us  as  chaff  before  the  wind."  It 
is,  indeed,  a  fit  subject  for  the  genius  of  Homer,  of  Ossian 
or  Milton. 

We  should  be  pleased  to  give  this  speech  entire ;  but  it 
is  unnecessary.  The  war  was  closed ;  and  to  Col.  Troup 
the  country  was  much  indebted  for  wise  and  calm  counsels 
devised  in  the  committee-room,  and  for  many  stirring 
appeals  on  the  floor  of  the  House — all  calculated  to  bring 
to  a  happy  issue  a  contest  in  which  his  intellect  and  his 
heart  were  united  in  vindicating  the  honor  of  his  land. 
He  had  not  been  a  candidate  at  the  election  in  1814,  and, 
as  the  thirteenth  Congress  was  about  to  expire,  he  was  on 
the  eve  of  retirement  to  private  life,  entitled  to  and  fully 
enjoying  the  confidence  and  respect  of  his  countrymen. 
Before  retiring,  however,  he  felt  that  he  had  a  duty  to  per- 
form to  the  brave  army  whose  operations  he  had  so  essen- 
tially aided.  He,  accordingly,  on  the  22d  of  February, 
reported,  from  the  Military  Committee,  a  bill  fixing  the 
Military  Peace  Establishment  of  the  United  States.  The 
bill  provided  that  the  Military  Peace  Establishment  should 
consist  of  such  proportions  of  artillery,  infantry  and  riflemen, 
not  exceeding  in  the  whole  ten  thousand  men,  as  the  Presi- 
dent should  think  proper;  the  corps  of  engineers  to  be 
retained  ;  the  general  officers  to  consist  of  two  Major  Gen- 
erals and  four.  Brigadier  Generals ;  the  President  to  cause 
selections  to  be  made  of  officers  from  the  existing  force, 
and  to  cause  tne  supernumerary  officers  to  be  discharged 
as  soon  as  circumstances  should  permit ;  three  months  pay 
to  be  given  to  each  officer,  &c.,  so  honorably  discharged, 
and,  in  addition,  to  each  officer  and  private  a  donation  of 
land,  ,&c.,  &c. 

The  bill  seems  to  have  passed  the  House  substantially  as 
it  was  reported,  and  afterwards  passed  the  Senate,  with 


158  LIFE  or  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP,  VII. 

amendments,  the  principal  of  which  was  that  striking  out 
donations  of  land  to  disbanded  officers  and  soldiers.  On 
the  question  that  the  House  recede  from  their  disagreement 
to  this  amendment,  Col.  Troup  voted  in  the  negative.  The 
motion,  however,  prevailed,  and  the  Act  was  approved  by 
the  President  on  the  third  of  March. 

When  the  bill  was  before  the  House,  Col.  Troup  made 
a  long  and  able  speech  in  its  support,  which  deserves  to  be 
recorded  here,  but  which  is  reluctantly  omitted  because  of 
the  space  already  devoted  to  military  subjects. 

The  House  adjourned,  sine  die,  on  the  third  of  March, 
1815,  and  Colonel  Troup,  having  thus  finished  forever  his 
connection  with  that  branch  of  Congress,  retired  to  his 
plantation  in  Laurens  County. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  ELECTION  TO  THE  U.  S.  SENATE.  159 


CHAPTEK  VIII. 

Col.  Troup's  Election  to  the  United  States  Senate. — His  Course 
in  that  Body. — Resignation. — Election  as  Governor  of  Georgia, 
&c. — Internal  Improvement. — Land  Lottery. 

THE  retirement  from  public  life  which  Colonel  Tronp 
had  proposed  to  himself,  was  to  be  of  no.  long  duration. 
The  Legislature  of  Georgia  assembled  in  November,  1816  ; 
and  one  of  the  duties  devolving  on  them  was  the  election 
of  a  Senator  in  the  Congress  of  the  United  States,  for  the 
term  which  was  to  begin  on  the  4th  of  March,  1817. 

We  have  already  seen  that  Dr.  "William  "W.  Bibb  had 
been  elected  to  fill  the  residue  of  Hon.  Win.  H.  Crawford's* 
term,  made  vacant  by  the  appointment  of  the  latter  as 
Minister  to  France.  Colonel  Troup  having  been  urged  to 
become  a  candidate  for  the  full  term,  he  wrote,  as  follows, 
to  his  friend  Governor  Mitchell : 

LATTEENS,  Oct'r  30th,  1816. 

Dear  Sir :  Having  lately  suffered  a  severe  cut  on  the 
second  finger  of  my  right  hand,  which  is  not  yet  healed,  I 
hold  the  pen  with  great  difficulty  in  answering  your  friend- 
ly letter  of  the  19th  instant. 

To  the  solicitations  of  my  friends,  heretofore,  I  have 
uniformly  opposed  the  resolution,  together  with  the  motives, 
with  which  I  retired  from  Congress.  They  have  ceased  to 
operate  with  their  original  force,  but  I  cannot  disguise  that 
it  is  with  great  reluctance  I  have  answered  to  their  more 
recent  requests  on  the  subject  of  the  approaching  election 
for  the  Senate,  that  "  they  might  command  my  services." 
My  name  will  by  no  means  be  used  for  any  oifice,  unless 
it  should  seem  to  be  the  general  wish. 

If  the  state  of  my  hand  permit,  I  will  have  the  pleasure 
to  see  your  Excellency  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  week. 

*  On  tho  resignation  of  Mr.  Crawford,  William  Bellinger  Bulloch,  of  Savannah,  was 
appointed  in  his  place,  on  the  8th  of  April,  1813,  by  tho  Executive  of  Georgia,  and  took 
his  seat  in  tho  Senate  on  24th  May,  and  continued  there  until  the  adjournment  of  Con- 
gress on  the  2d  of  August.  Dr.  Bibb  was  elected,  in  November  following,  Mr.  Bulloch  being 
no  candidate. — ED. 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

In  the  mean  time,  I  remain,  my  dear  sir,  most  respectfully 
and  sincerely,        Your  friend  and  servant, 

G.  M.  TKOTJP. 

His  Excellency,  Gov.  Mitchell, 
Milledgeville. 

On  the  8th  of  November,  1816,  the  election  came  on, 
and  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Col.  Troup  over  Dr.  Bibb. 
The  latter  immediately  resigned  his  seat  for  the  unexpired 
term,  and  Col.  Troup  was,  on  the  12th  November,  elected 
in  his  place.  It  is  said  that  Dr.  Bibb  had  made  himself 
unpopular*  by  voting  for  the  "  compensation  law  ;"  in  other 
words,  for  a  bill  which,  amongst  other  things,  provided  for 
payment  "  to  each  Senator,  member  of  the  House  of  Ke- 
presentatives,  other  than  the  Speaker,  and  delegate,  the 
sum  of  fifteen  hundred  dollars,"  annually,  in  lieu  of  the 
usual  per  diem  pay.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  people  of 
the  country  were  very  much  excited  at  the  passage  of  this 
law  ;  and  yet,  as  it  would  seem,  for  very  little  cause.  The 
act  was  passed  in  March,  181G,  and  was  soon  after  made  the 
subject  of  presentment  by  grand  juries  in  different  parts  of 
the  State. 

The  following  sketch  from  Gov.  Gilmer's  work,  entitled 
"Georgians,"  pages  108  and  109,  is  deemed  appropriate 
here  : 

Dr.  Bibb  was  a  member  of  the  Georgia  Legislature  at  a 
very  early  age  for  entrance  into  public  life.  William  II. 
Crawford  and  John  Forsyth  had,  perhaps,  more  of  the  con- 
fidence of  the  authorities  of  the  State  than  Dr.  Bibb. 
George  M.  Troup  alone  rivaled  him  in  the  love  of  the  peo- 
ple, lie  was  elected  a  member  of  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives in  1806,  and,  some  years  after,  Senator  in  Congress. 
He  was  a  very  influential  member  during  the  restrictive 
commercial  policy  of  Mr.  Jefferson's  administration,  and 
afterwards  one  of  Mr.  Madison's  most  confidential  ad  v! 
The  passage  of  the  compensation  law  excited  the  indigna- 
tion of  the  people  to  such  fury,  that  all  the  members  of 
Congress  from  Georgia,  except  one,  were  turned  out  of 
office,  though  the  measure  was  not  voted  for  by  some 
of  them ;  because,  as  the  people  said,  they  talked  at  all 
times,  upon  every  subject,  but  objected  not  a  word  against 


CHAP.  VIII.]  IN  THE  SENATE. 

getting  increased  pay  per  day.  Mr.  Madison  soothed  Dr. 
Bibb's  mortification  for  this  withdrawal  of  their  confidence 
by  his  constituents,  by  appointing  him  Governor  of  Ala- 
bama Territory.  He  accepted  the  appointment,  and  re- 
moved to  Huntsville.  Two  years  after,  the  people  of 
Alabama  organized  a  State  Government.  Dr.  Bibb  was 
their  first  Governor.  During  the  summer  of  1820,  whilst 
riding  rapidly  to  escape  from  a  shower  of  rain,  his  horse 
stumbled,  and  injured  him  so  that  he  died. 


On  his.  way  to  "Washington,  Col.  Troup  came  to  Savan- 
nah, where,  after  some  necessary  preparation,  he  embarked 
by  sailing  vessel  bound  for  the  Chesapeake.  He  arrived  at 
"Washington  on  the  llth  of  December,  and  on  the  next  day 
took  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  when,  also,  the  credentials  of 
his  election  for  six  years  from  the  4th  of  March,  were  read 
and  filed.  On  the  13th,  he  was  placed  on  the  Finance,  and 
also  the  Military,  Committee.  During  this  session,  he  sub- 
mitted a  resolution,  which  was  adopted,  instructing  the 
committee  on  Claims  to  inquire  into  the  expediency  of 
authorizing  the  payment  to  Georgia,  of  certain  claims,  for 
the  services  of  militia  called  out  under  the  authority  of  the 
United  States,  during  the  years  1792  and  1793,  for  the  de- 
fence of  said  State  against  Indian  invasion.  An  act  was 
also  passed  for  the  payment  of  a  sum  of  money  to  the  State 
of  Geqrgia,  under  the  articles  of  agreement  and  cession 
between  the  United  States  and  Georgia ;  also  an  act  au- 
thorizing the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  pay  to  the  State 
of  Georgia  fifteen  per  centum  upon  the  quota  of  direct  tax, 
for  the  year  181G,  assumed  and  paid  by  Georgia.  He  voted 
for  a  repeal  of  the  compensation  law ;  and,  at  every 
stage,  against  a  bill  "  to  set  apart  and  pledge,  as  a  permanent 
fund  for  internal  improvements,  the  bonus  of  the  National 
Bank,  and  the  United  States'  share  of  its  dividends."  Af- 
ter sundry  amendments,  the  bill  passed  both  Houses,*  but 
was  arrested  by  the  President's  veto,  because  of  the  "  in- 

*  On  the  passage  Of  this  bill  in  the  Senate,  Judge  Tait,  the  other  Senator  from  Georgia, 
voted  for  it;  on  its  passage  in  the  House,  every  member  from  Georgia  voted  for  it,  except  Hon. 
Alfred  Cuthbert,  who  was  absent. — ED. 

21 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

superable  difficulty"  felt  by  that  officer  "  in  reconciling  the 
bill  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States." 

Congress  adjourned  on  the  3d  of  March,  1817,  and  the 
Executive  session  of  the  Senate  terminated  on  the  (!th 
of  the  same  month. 

[1817.]  The  first  session  of  the  Fifteenth  Congress  began 
on  the  first  day  of  December.  Col.  Troup  took  his  seat  on 
the  10th.  He  was  appointed  to  a  place  on  the  Committee 
on  Foreign  Kelations,  and  was  made  Chairman  of  the  Mil- 
itary Committee  of  the  Senate. 

On  31st  December,  the  following  resolution  was  submit- 
ted by  Mr.  Burrill,  of  Khode  Island : 

Resolved,  That  the  committee  to  whom  was  referred  the 
petition  of  the  committee  of  the  yearly  meeting  of  the  So- 
ciety of  Friends,  at  Baltimore,  be  instructed  to  inquire  into 
the  expediency  of  so  amending  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  on  the  subject  of  the  African  slave  trade,  as  more 
effectually  to  prevent  said  trade  from  being  carried  on  by 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  under  foreign  flags,  and  also 
into  the  expediency  of  the  United  States  taking  measures, 
in  concert  with  other  nations,  for  the  entire  abolition  of  said 
trade. 

[1818.]  The  resolution  coming  up  for  consideration,  on 
the  2d  of  January,  and  having  been  read, 

Mr.  Troup  rose  to  object  to  the  last  clause  of  the  resolu- 
tion, which  contemplated  a  concert  with  foreign  nations. 
He  thought  this  a  most  extraordinary  proposition,  and  as- 
serted that,  according  to  his  apprehension,  no  measure  could 
be  adopted  more  replete  with  danger  to  the  welfare,  to  the 
very  existence  of  this  country,  than  a  formal  coalition,  for 
any  purposes,  with  any  foreign  nation  whatever.  It  was  a 
policy,  a  resort  to  which  ought  always  to  be  resisted, 
and  he  hoped  would  be  resisted,  with  a  firmness  not 
to  be  overcome.  The  object  of  the  first  part  of  the 
proposition,  for  making  our  laws  against  the  slave  trade 
more  perfect  and  more  effectual,  Mr.  T.  approved,  and  was 
willing  to  co-operate  in  it.  He  was  ready  to  go  as  far  as 
any  one,  in  enforcing,  within  our  own  jurisdiction,  the  ab- 
olition of  the  African  slave  trade.  Within  our  land  line,  or 
water  line,  even  on  the  high  seas,  he  was  willing  to  enforce 
our  own  laws  on  the  subject ;  but  to  direct  the  President  to 
enter  into  any  compact  or  concert  for  this  object  with  any 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  SLAVE  TRADE  RESOLUTIONS.  163 

foreign  nation  or  individuals,  was  a  step  he  would  never 
consent  to.  He  could  not  separate  from  foreign  alliances  the 
idea  of  foreign  politics  and  foreign  wars ;  and  the  proposed 
measure  he  should  view  as  the  commencement  of  a  system 
of  foreign  connections,  tending  to  foreign  alliance,  to  which 
Mr.  T.  expressed  great  repugnance.  Unless,  therefore,  the 
propositions  embraced  by  the  resolution  were  separated,  he 
should  be  obliged  to  vote  against  it. 

Mr.  Burrill  having  spoken  on  the  subject, 

Mr.  Troup  replied,  that  the  proposed  concert  for  abolish- 
ing a  particular  traffic  on  the  high  seas,  pre-supposed  resist- 
ance, and  resistance  was  to  be  repressed  by  the  united 
means  of  the  nations  entering  into  the  compact.  This, 
certainly,  Mr.  Troup  said,  was  one  step  towards,  and  might 
be  the  prelude  to,  alliances  with  foreign  powers.  Besides, 
he  said,  this  was  not  one  of  those  traffics  proscribed  by  the 
law  of  nations,  though  prohibited  by  our  statutes ;  and  he 
doubted  the  expediency  of  such  a  combination  to  put  down 
a  trade  which  was  thus  permitted.  If  motives  of  humanity 
are  urged  in  favor  of  this  measure,  let  us,  said  Mr.  T.,  begin 
at  the  fountain  head.  If  the  policy  of  this  country  is  to  be 
changed ;  if  the  well-remembered  parting  advice  of  a 
wise  and  good  man  is  to  be  departed  from,  and  we  are  to 
commence  a  system  of  "  entangling  alliances,"  let  us  look 
for  some  objects  worthy  of  the  change ;  let  us  aim  at 
the  abolition  of  impressment,  and  free  our  seamen  from  that 
odious  tyranny  ;  or,  let  us  enter  into  the  cause  of  South 
American  emancipation ;  let  us  not  enter,  for  the  first  time, 
upon  a  system  so  fraught  with  danger,  without  some  such 
great  justifiable  motive;  without  the  certainty  of  accom- 
plishing some  object  of  an  importance  corresponding  with 
the  sacrifice  we  are  to  make. 

Mr.  Burrill  having  read  the  tenth  article  of  the  Treaty 
of  Ghent,  to  show  that  the  proposition  was  not  a  novelty, 
and  that  the  United  States  were  specifically  pledged  to 
Great  Britain  to  use  "  their  best  endeavors  "  to  abolish  the 
trade, 

Mr.  Troup  replied  that,  in  the  very  provision  referred  to, 
the  Executive  had  cautiously  and  pointedly  abstained  from 
compromitting  the  country  to  any  connection  for  this  object 
— the  article  of  the  treaty  stipulating  simply  that  each 
party  would,  with  good  faith,  carry  into  effect  its  own 
statutes  on  the  subject  of  this  trade.  The  article,  in  short, 
engaged  the  parties  to  do  that  which,  Mr.  T.  said,  would 


164:  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

have  been  done  by  the   United  States  without  any  such 
stipulation. 

The  same  subject  coming  up  again  on  the  12th  January, 

Mr.  Troup  said  he  had  no  intention,  when  lie  objected  the 
other  day  to  a  part  of  the  resolution,  to  involve  the  Senate 
in  a  debate  upon  it ;  and  he  very  plainly  perceived  that, 
at  this  stage  of  it,  it  would  be  considered  premature  to 
discuss  at  large  the  merits  of  the  question.  Hut  he  would 
submit  to  the  Senate  if  it  were  competent  to  them,  in  union 
with  the  President,  to  pledge  the  arms  and  resource's  of  the 
country,  in  a  concert  with  foreign  Powers,  for  any  object 
whatsoever.  He  denied  that  it  could  be  done  in  the  spirit 
of  the  Constitution.  It  would  be  a  pledge  of  that  which  we 
had  not.  The  arms  and  resources  of  the  country  were  con- 
fided elsewhere  ;  they  were  deposited,  not  with  the  two, 
but  the  three,  branches  of  the  Legislature;  and,  in  fact, 
were  not  even  to  be  found  there.  The  people  were  etten- 
tially  the  depositary  of  them,  and  their  Representatives  the 
organ.  Yet  it  was  proposed  to  pledge,  by  an  act  of  the 
Executive  power  only,  the  arms  and  resources  of  a  nation, 
in  concert  with  foreign  Powers,  for  the  abolition  of  the 
slave  trade.  Gentlemen  seemed  to  entertain  very  different 
significations  of  the  term  concert ;  for  his  part,  Mr.  T.  said, 
he  knew  of  but  one  signification,  which,  in  its  application 
to  the  present  subject,  could  legitimately  attach  to  it;  a 
signification  sustained  equally  by  the  law  of  nations,  the 
law  of  diplomacy,  as  far  as  he  Knew  such  a  law,  and  the 
universally  received  acceptation  of  the  term — concert  with 
foreign  nations.  Sir,  what  is  it  but  a  term  for  common 
councils  and  common  efforts  The  gentlemen  propose  to 
themselves  a  great  object — no  less  than  the  universal  abo- 
lition of  the  slave  trade  ;  other  nations,  they  acknowledge, 
hold  out  against  them.  Will  they  be  content,  then,  with  a 
concert  of  common  councils?  Assuredly  they  will  not. 
Between  nations,  common  councils  mean  nothing,  unless 
sustained  by  common  efforts  ;  and  common  efforts  between 
nations  mean  nothing  less  than  war,  if  war  be  necessary  for 
the  object.  War  must  be  necessary,  so  long  as  other  na- 
tions assert  the  right  and  hold  to  the  practice  of  the  slave 
trade.  It  is  true  that  you  may  begin  with  negotiation,  but 
it  is  certain  that,  if  negotiation  fail,  you  must  resort  to  war. 
What  would  avail  a  treaty  stipulation  which  would  pledge 
the  United  States  to  exert,  in  concert  with  Great  Britain, 
their  advice  and  persuasion  to  induce  Spain  and  Portugal 


CHAP.  VIII.]          THE  SLAVE  TRADE  RESOLUTIONS.  165 

to  abolish  the  slave  trade  ?  Spain  and  Portugal  would  care 
nothing  about  your  advice  and  persuasion,  especially  when 
you  told  them  that  you  intended  nothing  more.  Rhetoric 
and  eloquence  are  not  the  instruments  of  nations  for  the 
execution  of  grand  projects.  He  was  well  persuaded  that 
the  gentleman  from  Rhode  Island  meant  to  deal  in  some- 
thing more  substantial ;  idle  and  insignificant  verbiage 
could  not  suit  his  purpose;  for,  if  it  did,  he  already  found  it 
in  a  treaty.  This  word  concert,  therefore,  Mr.  President, 
means  something — it  means  connection,  combination,  alli- 
ance, for  a  given  object ;  it  means  entangling  alliance. 
You  are  admonished  against  entangling  alliances  ;  for  what 
reason  ?  Because  our  Government  is  of  its  own  kind,  in- 
sulated, the  only  Republic  in  the  world,  between  which 
and  other  governments  there  is  no  common  principle,  no 
common  feeling,  no  common  sympathy  ;  they  may  combine 
for  their  own  interests ;  they  may  enter  into  concert  for 
your  destruction ;  they  will  not  be  so  ready  to  combine  with 
you  either  to  promote  your  interests,  or  interests  common 
to  you  and  them.  You  propose  a  concert  with  crowned 
heads  !  They  never  concert  with  themselves,  but  broils, 
and  quarrels,  and  wars  follow  in  the  train.  History  is  full 
of  them  ;  and,  if  entangling  connections,  sir,  between  mon- 
archs,  who  wield  the  sword  and  the  purse,  who  make  peace 
and  war  at  their  will,  be  fruitful  of  these  mischiefs,  what 
may  we  not  expect  when  you  enter  the  lists  without  the 
means  of  doing  what  you  engage  to  do?  Gentlemen  will 
say  this  mode  of  reasoning  is  entitled  to  little  weight ;  it  is 
speculative — admit  it;  the  argument  of  experience  is  alone 
admissible,  and  the  argument  of  experience  is  decisive. 
The  only  instance  which  I  recollect,  sir,  of  a  concert  be- 
tween this  country  and  any  foreign  Power,  is  that  of  the 
French  Treaties  of  1778.  It  was  a  concert,  and  it  turned 
out  a  most  entangling  one.  It  was  a  concert,  too,  for  an 
object  near  and  dear  to  the  American  heart ;  a  concert  for 
liberty  and  independence.  A  more  important  object  can 
never  present  itself.  In  the  one  treaty,  we  stipulated  the 
guaranty  of  the  French  American  possessions  ;  in  the  other, 
we  stipulated  that  France  (being  in  a  state  of  belligerency 
with  any  other  Power,)  might  use  our  ports  freely  with  her 
ships  of  war  and  prizes.  Now,  sir,  I  pray  you,  how  did  we 
fulfil  our  stipulations?  We  did  not  fulfil  them  at  all.  We 
got  out  of  the  difficulty,  I  will  not  say  dishonorably,  but  as 
well  as  we  could.  I  believe,  sir,  the  men  who  presided 
over  our  councils,  at  the  time  of  which  I  speak,  were  hon- 
orable men,  and  were  willing  to  do  whatever  they  could  to 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROITP.  [CHAP.  Till. 

carry  into  effect,  in  good  faith,  what  they  engaged  to  do; 
but,  sir,  they  could  not ;  they  wanted  the  sword  and  the 
purse,  and  the  Constitution  had  intrusted  them  to  others  ; 
they  were  intrusted  to  the  people.  I  sincerely  believe,  sir, 
that  France  saw  the  embarrassing  dilemma,  and  took  pity 
upon  us.  She  saw  we  could  not  execute  the  guaranty 
without  going  into  the  war,  and  she  forbore  to  press  it. 
But,  in  consequence  of  her  thus  forbearing,  she  thought  she 
might  the  more  rightfully  demand  the  rigid  execution  of 
the  other  article.  We  had  stipulated  to  allow  French  ships 
of  war  and  prizes  to  go  and  come  freely,  and  to  remain  at 
pleasure  ;  it  was  a  stipulation  partial  in  effect.  France 
being  at  war  with  England,  it  admitted  to  France  what  it 
refused  to  England.  It  was  inconsistent,  too,  with  the 
spirit  of  President  Washington's  proclamation  of  neutrali- 
ty. France,  having  abandoned  her  claim  for  the  fulfillment 
of  the  guaranty,  thought  she  was  entitled  to  a  favorable 
construction  of  the  article  relating  to  ships  of  war  and  prizes. 
She  demanded  the  right  of  arming,  and  fitting,  and  com- 
missioning in  our  ports.  We  resisted,  and  eventually  we 
found  ourselves  in  a  war  with  France.  This,  sir,  is  the  only 
instance  of  a  concert  between  this  country  and  a  foreign 
Power  which  I  recollect ;  such  has  been  the  result  of  it,  and 
such  will  ever  be  the  result.  It  is  unavoidable  from  the  na- 
ture of  our  political  institutions.  We  enter  into  enihar; 
ing  stipulations ;  we  are  called  upon  to  execute  them ;  we 
call  uponthe  people  to  draw  the  sword  and  advance  the  ]>i 
they  answer  us,  No !  we  have  nothing  to  do  with  your  treaties 
of  concert  or  your  guaranties  ;  if  you  are  unwise  enough 
to  enter  into  them,  you  may  get  out  of  them  as  well  as  you 
can;  you  shall  not  do  so  at  our  expense,  or  with  our  aid 
and  assistance.  And  so,  sir,  they  will  answer  alwavs. 
They  will  go  to  war  for  rights  which  belong  to  them  ;  for 
their  honor,  their  independence  ;  for  interests  entirely  their 
own ;  they  will  not  for  rights  and  interests  which  are 
extraneous,  and  in  which  they  feel  no  concern.  This  was 
the  lesson  taught  by  the  people  to  the  men  who  directed 
our  councils  on  the  occasion  to  which  I  referred  ;  an  awful 
warning  never  to  put  to  hazard  the  peace  of  this  country 
by  connections  with  foreign  Powers  for  any  objects  what- 
soever, much  less  for  objects  foreign  to  our  interests  and 
our  feelings.  The  treaties  adverted  "to  were  negotiated  un- 
der the  former  government.  It  is  believed  ttiat  nothing 
similar  has  occurred  under  the  present.  Mr.  T.  said  ho 
would  no  longer  tire  the  patience  of  the  Senate  with  such 
desultory  remarks :  but  he  could  not  forbear  the  expression 


CHAP.  VIII.]  HIS  RESIGNATION.  167 

of  his  surprise  that  the  proposition  of  the  gentleman  should 
be  urged  with  so  much  zeal  and  earnestness,  when  it  was 
well  known  to  the  Senate  and  the  world,  that  from  the 
origin  of  the  present  Government,  almost  up  to  the  present 
moment,  American  citizens,  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the  land, 
had  been  seized  by  the  Algerines,  handcuffed  and  chained, 
incarcerated  and  enslaved,  four  thousand  miles  from  their 
homes  and  the  bosoms  of  their  families,  and  no  instance  is 
recorded  of  a  proposition  having  been  submitted  to  the 
Senate  to  advise  the  President  to  enter  into  concert  with 
foreign  nations  for  the  abolition  of  Algerine  slavery. 

The  course  and  speeches  of  Colonel  Troup,  on  this  sub- 
ject, evince  the  soundness  of  his  judgment,  and  his  political 
forecast.  His  warnings  and  predictions  have  been  justified 
and  fulfilled  by  events  occurring  at  the  present  day.  It  is 
only  during  the  last  year,  1858,  that  Great  Britain,  on  pre- 
tence of  a  right  to  visit  American  vessels  for  the  purpose 
of  capturing  slavers,  under  the  "  concert "  treaty  between 
the  two  governments  for  suppressing  the  African  slave 
trade,  carried  this  assumed  right  so  far  as  to  endanger  the 
peace  of  the  two  countries,  and  was  at  last  compelled  to 
acknowledge  the  justice  of  our  complaints  against  the  in- 
solent exercise  of  a  pretended  right  which  the  United  States 
never  admitted,  and  which  our  ancient  enemy  has  been  at 
length  compelled  to  abandon. 

This  session  of  Congress  closed  on  the  20th  of  April. 
It  is  unnecessary  to  dwell  upon  the  proceedings,  or  to  spe- 
cify the  measures  of  the  session  in  which  Col.  Troup  took 
part.  He  had  left  his  home  reluctantly ;  private  and  do- 
mestic considerations  required  his  presence  there  ;  arid,  bid- 
ding farewell  once  more  to  public  pursuits,  he  resigned  his 
place  in  the  Senate,  and  retired  to  his  home  in  Laurens. 

At  the  time  of  which  we  write,  there  was,  politically 
speaking,  but  one  party  in  Georgia.  As  the  best  evidence 
of  the  fact,  the  Legislature  of  1816,  which  elected  Colonel 
Troup  to  the  Senate,  not  many  days  afterwards  elected 
Gen.  John  Mclntosh,  Charles  Harris,  H.  Mitchell,  Jared 
Irwin,  John  Kutherford,  Gen.  David  Meriwether,  John 
Clark  and  David  Adams,  Electors  of  President  and  Vice 


163  LIFE  OF  GEORGE    M.    TROUP.  [CHAP.  VIII 

President ;  and  who,  though  belonging  to  different  local 
parties  in  Georgia,  were  known  to  be  favorable  to  the  elec- 
tion of  Mr.  Monroe  and  D.  D.  Tompkins  to  the  two  high- 
est offices  in  the  gift  of  the  people.  Mr.  Crawford  was  the 
acknowledged  leader  of  one  local  party,  and  Gen.  John  Clark 
of  the  other.  They  were  personal  em-mies,  and,  in  one  sense, 
political  rivals.  The  towering  intellect  and  high  position 
of  Mr.  Crawford,  put  him,  in  some  respects,  far  above  the 
men  of  his  day  in  Georgia,  and  her  people  looked  forward 
to  the  time  as  not  far  distant,  when,  besides  the  lofty  posi- 
tions already  occupied  by  him,  the  highest  honor  of  the  re- 
public would  almost  certainly  be  conferred  on  him.  In 
biding  his  time  as  the  looked-for  successor  of  Mr.  Monroe, 
his  prospects  became  blasted  by  sudden  and  severe  <li~ 
which,  in  the  judgment  of  many  of  his  friends  and  wann- 
est admirers,  unfitted  him  for  the  first  place  in  the  gift  of 
his  countrymen.  For  several  years  he  had  been  unconnect- 
ed with  active  participation  in  the  local  politics  of  Georgia. 
Soon  after  his  return  from  France,  he  was  appointed  Sec- 
retary of  the  Treasury,  and  was  in  the  discharge  of  the 
duties  of  that  office  at  the  period  to  which  we  refer. 
Nevertheless,  his  name  and  his  character  were  potent  in 
Georgia.  As  a  general  thing,  his  friends  were  the  friends 
of  Col.  Troup ;  and  it  was  the  wish  of  these  friends,  and  of 
Mr.  Crawford  also,  that  Col.  Troup  should  become  a  candi- 
date for  the  Gubernatorial  Chair  of  Georgia. 

The  time  for  which  Gov.  Rabun  had  been  elected,  ex- 
pired in  November,  1819.  That  gentleman  had  died  in 
October,  just  previously  to  the  meeting  of  the  General  As- 
sembly which  was  to  elect  a  Governor.  Gen.  Clark  and 
Col.  Troup  were  the  opposing  candidates — the  latter  "  in- 
duced by  urgent  application  of  his  friends  to  consent  to 
become  a  candidate."  It  does  not  become  us  to  speak  of 
the  comparative  merits  of  the  two  men.  The  bitterness  of 
the  times  has  passed  away,  and  it  is  the  duty  of  all,  but  es- 
pecially the  impartial  historian,  to  tread  lightly  over  the 
ashes  of  the  dead.  Born  in  Revolutionary  times,  and 
trained,  under  the  eye  of  his  patriotic  father,  to  the  use  of 


CHAP.  VIII.]         POSITION  OF  PARTIES  IN  GEORGIA.  169 

arms  in  defence  of  his  country,  Gen.  Clark  had  done  ser- 
vice to  the  State.  Inferior  to  Col.  Troup,  in  education, 
though  equally  brave,  he  had  the  same  good  fortune  to  en- 
list troops  of  ardent  and  devoted  friends. 

The  election  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Gen.  Clark,  by  a 
majority  of  thirteen  votes.  The  probability  is,  that  this  re- 
sult was,  for  private  reasons,  gratifying  to  the  defeated  can- 
didate, although  mortifying  to  his  friends.  The  main  reason 
which  induced  his  retirement  from  the  Senate — domestic 
affliction  in  the  loss  of  his  wife's  health — still  operated  with 
full  force  to  check  political  aspiration,  if  he  had  any.  His 
consenting  to  serve,  if  elected,  showed  a  disposition  to  yield 
rather  to  the  advice  and  solicitations  of  friends,  than  to 
obey  his  own  inclinations. 

The  same  result  occurred  in  1821.  Gov.  Clark  was  re- 
elected  by  a  majority  of  two  votes — Clark  74,  Troup  T2. 
The  late  Hon.  Joseph  W.  Jackson,  than  whom  none  better 
understood  or  appreciated  the  character  of  his  friend,  and 
who  was  a  member  of  the  House  at  the  time,  thus  wrote  : 

"  The  writer  of  this  memoir  well  remembers  the  intense 
excitement  that  preceded  this  election,  and  the  course  of 
Col.  Troup  at  Milledgeville.  His  supporters  urged  him  to 
visit  the  members,  and  to  canvass  for  their  votes.  He  re- 
fused, alleging,  truly,  that  a  candidate  for  the  Executive  cJiair 
should  not  debase  that  high  office  by  seeking  to  influence  the 
Legislative  votes.  He  had  refused,  through  life,  to  electioneer^ 
and  he  was  too  old  to  do  it  now."*  In  looking  back  at  these 
reverses,  the  intelligent  reader  cannot  fail  to  perceive  that, 
as  events  afterwards  proved,  the  time  had  not  come  when 
Col.  Troup's  talents  and  firmness  were  absolutely  needed 
at  the  helm  of  state.  There  was  then  no  imminent  peril, 
no  impending  crisis,  which  required  them. 

The  following  letter  to  Gen.  D.  B.  Mitchell,  will  show 
that  Col.  Troup  was  not  inattentive  to  the  interests  of  Ag- 
riculture : 


*    White's  Statistics  of  Georgia,  page  553. — ED. 

22 


1YO  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Cn.u-.  VIII. 

LATJMNB,  Deer.  12,  1S22. 

Dear  Sir : — The  enclosed  letter  for  ( leneral  Mclntoeh,*  is 
without  the  proper  direction,  because  I  do  not  know  cither 
the  place  of  his  common  residence,  or  the  means  hy  which 
it  may  be  most  cxpeditionsly  conveyed  to  him.  I  take  the 
liberty  to  trouble  you  with*  it,  that  it  may  reach  him  cer- 
tainly and  without  delay. 

The  object  ef  it  is  to  procure  horses  for  the  plough— In- 
dian Tackles,  young  and  sufficiently  strong — say  10  or  12  of 
them.  I  presuppose  they  maybe  bought  low;  and  that, 
being  much  in  the  habits  of  trade,  he  can  furnish  them  as 
cheap  as  any  body.  15e  B  U  to  charge  yourself  with 

the  receipt  of  his  answer,  and  forward  it,  to  me. 

Pray,  what  is  the  state  of  the  atmosphere  at  Milledge- 
ville,  or  have  you  been  much  there  ? 

Your  t'riend  and  serv't, 

<;.    M.   TBOTJP. 


[1823.]     Tlu-  gubernatorial  <  . .  newed  in  1823  ; 

but  Gov.  Clark  was  no  longer  in  the  field.  The  rival  can- 
didates were  George  M.  Troup  and  Hon.  Matthew  Talbot 
— the  latter  a  friend  and  supporter  of  (Jov.  Clark.  The 
election  took  place  on  Tin  lie  fith  day  of  November, 

i;i  the  Representative  Hall,  by  joint  ballot  of  the  two 
Houses.  The  result  •, 

For  George  M.   Troup, 
"     Matthew  Tall >ot,  s! 

Majority  for  Col.  Troup,       -  -       4: 

The  inauguration  of  the  new  Governor  took  place,  with 
the  usual  solemnities,  on  the  7th,  when  he  delivered  the  fol- 
lowing admirable 

INAUGURAL  ADDKKSS: 

FELLOW  Ci  1  come  to  the  administration  of  jour 

affairs  with  unfeigned  diilidence  of  my  own  ability  to  man- 
age them  to  your  advantage.  The  indulgence  which  you 
have  shown  me,  on  every  p;isi  occasion,  is  my  inducement 
to  undertake  it,  and  my  incentive  to  persevere.  At  every 

*  The  Indian  Chief,  Own.  William    '  auJ  who  fij.'nrt'*  in  n  Huccccd- 

in-    |,i,i-tiM,i    ,,f  this  lii,t..ry.— En. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  HIS  INAUGU.RAL  ADDRESS. 

step  of  iny  progress,  there  will  be  errors  to  extenuate — 
weaknesses  to  overlook.  Nevertheless,  I  come  into  office  free 
and  unfettered,  without  passions  to  gratify  or  pledges  to  re- 
deem ;  and  what  is  deemed  to  be  right,  under  the  Consti- 
tution and  the  laws,  will  be  done. 

I  have  nothing  to  promise  but  good  intention — save  only, 
that  I  will  endeavor  that  the  laws  be  executed,  the  public 
functionaries,  so  far  as  depends  on  me,  held  to  a  strict  ac- 
countability, and  the  State,  according  to  its  means,  defend- 
ed against  its  enemies. 

The  season  of  peace,  gentlemen,  in  which  we  find  our- 
selves, is  the  season  for  the  cultivation,of  the  arts  of  peace; 
and  what  is  wanting  in  the  works  of  Providence,  designed 
for  the  purposes  of  man,  'tis  for  the  industry  of  man  to 
improve  ;  and  to  improve  what  God  has  bountifully  given, 
is  gratitude  to  God.  In  the  measures,  therefore,  which  you 
may  deem  proper,  to  extend  or  facilitate  the  great  work  of 
internal  improvement,  you  may,  at  all  times,  rely  on  my 
hearty  and  zealous  co-operation.  "With  regard  to  the  other 
measures,  embracing  the  leading  interests  of  our  country, 
that  in  them  we  will  move  in  harmony  and  in  concert,  I 
have  the  best  assurance  in  the  patriotism  and  intelligence 
with  which  I  am  surrounded. 

Fellow-citizens — let  us  cease  our  strifes — let  our  divisions 
be  at  an  end.  The  march  of  science  is  so  steady — the  pro- 
gress of  illumination  so  irresistible  in  this  great  and  gi  ow- 
ing country,  that  the  generation  to  come  may  look  back 
upon  our  foibles  with  pity  and  compassion.  Let  us  discard 
our  selfishness,  therefore,  and  let  our  motto  be — GOD  AND 
OUR  COUNTRY. 

The  following  message  of  the  Governor  to  the  Legisla- 
ture, is  so  characteristic  of  his  honesty  and  his  aversion  to 
political  intrigue,  that  we  insert  it  for  the  benefit  of  the 
reader.  The  caucus  referred  to  was  one  for  the  nomination 
of  persons  to  be  voted  for  as  President  and  Yice  President 
of  the  United  States.  The  rest  is  explained  by  the  mes- 
sage. 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  GEORGIA, 
Milledgemtte,  16th  Dec.,  1823. 

Having  been  made  the  instrument  of  conveying  to  you 
the  accompanying  document  transmitted  to  me  by  Gov. 
Carroll,  of  Tennessee,  at  the  request  of  the  Legislature  of 
that  State,  I  would  cheerfully  have  submitted  it  to  you 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

without  comment ;  but,  as  forbearance  in  this  respect  might 
be  construed  into  approval  on  my  part  of  any  thing  con- 
tained in  it,  I  do  not  hesitate  to  lay  before  you  the  crude 
suggestions  to  which  it  has  given  rise,  trusting  that  they 
will  be  regarded  with  all  the  indulgence  to  which  good  in- 
tention may  entitle  them. 

This  paper  purports  to  be  a  formal  act  of  the  Legislature 
of  Tennessee,  and  its  object  the  denunciation  of  what  it 
pleases  to  call  a  Caucus,  which  may  possibly  be  held  at  the 
city  of  Washington,  by  members  of  Congress,  for  certain 
purposes.  What  precise  and  definite  meaning  the  Legisla- 
ture of  Tennessee  designed  to  attach  to  the  word  Caucus,  I 
cannot  conceive.  It  is  not  an  English  word.  It  is  not  to 
be  found  in  our  dictionary,  and,  being  an  uncouth  word  and 
of  harsh  sound,  I  hope  never  will.  It  is  not  to  be  found  in 
either  the  Constitution  or  laws  of  Tennessee,  and  heiiiL';  a 
mere  abstract  conception,  cannot  become  a  subject  of  legis- 
lation at  all. 

The  paper  evidently  refers  to  a  contemplated  meeting  of 
members  of  Congress,  to  influence  a  decision  on  a  certain 
question.  Can  any  act  of  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee 
affect  the  persons  of  members  of  Congress,  or  others  at  the 
city  of  Washington  f  There  it  has  no  more  jurisdiction 
than  it  has  beyond  the  sea.  Members  of  Congress,  like  all 
other  officers  of  government,  stand  in  two  relations  to  so- 
ciety ;  the  one  public,  the  other  private.  They  forfeit  noth- 
ing of  their  rights  as  individuals,  by  assuming  public  duties, 
and  the  most  arbitrary  despotism  could  not  prevent  their 
assembly  for  purposes  not  expressly  inhibited  by  the  laws. 
Such  an  assembly  for  convivial  or  social  purposes,  might 
intermingle  with  its  amusements  the  gravest  discussions, 
and,  among  these,  the  very  question  the  discussion  of  which 
by  that  assembly  the  Legislature  of  Tennessee  so  ardently 
denounces.  It  would  give  to  itself  a  name  other  than  that 
of  Caucus,  and  then  the  vain,  unprofitable  resolution  of  the 
Legislature  of  Tennessee  would  not  have  even  a  shadow  on 
which  to  fix  itself. 

It  is  thus  that  Legislatures,  on  the  eve  of  great  elections, 
stepping  aside  from  their  legitimate  province,  enter  the 
field  of  contention,  inflame  the  angry  passions,  making  the 
contention  more  fierce  and  the  tumult  more  boisterous  ; 
and  it  is  thus,  that  instead  of  seeing  a  great  and  wise  people 
moving  with  calmness  and  deliberation  to  the  election 
of  their  first  magistrate,  the  political  arena  presents  a  scene, 
where,  as  in  the  turbulent  days  of  Rome,  the  bitterest  feel- 
of  human  nature  are  in  conflict ;  which,  from  idle 


CHAP.  VIIL]     INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT  IN  GEORGIA.  173 

agitations  grow  into  tempest,  and,  when  they  do  no  worse, 
make  ns  discontented  with  ourselves  and  bring  representa- 
tive government  into  disrepute  everywhere. 

G.  M.  TEOUP. 

The  direct  reference  made  by  the  Governor,  in  his  in- 
augural, to  the  question  of  Internal  Improvement,  the 
importance  of  the  subject,  and  a  disposition  not  to  break 
the  connection  in  the  narrative  of  political  matters  in  sub- 
sequent chapters,  induce  us  to  give  here  a  brief  but 
connected  view  of  that  subject,  and  the  important  part 
which  Governor  Troup  acted  on  it. 

The  position  of  Georgia,  in  regard  to  the  trade  of  the 
West  and  the  commerce  of  the  Ocean,  had  called  the  atten- 
tion of  her  people  and  her  politicians  to  the  subject  of 
internal  communication  long  before  any  regular  system 
was  devised.  To  go  no  further  back,  the  Legislature  of 
1820  passed  joint  resolutions  looking  to  the  gradual  but 
certain  introduction  of  such  a  plan  ;  and,  on  the  22d  Decem- 
ber, of  that  year,  Gov.  Clark  approved  an  act  for  the  ap- 
pointment of  "  a  fit  and  competent  person  for  topographical 
and  civil  engineer  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  "  at  a  salary  of 
three  thousand  dollars,  and  providing  that  "  the  duties  of 
the  said  topographical  and  civil  engineer  shall  consist  in 
surveying  the  navigable  rivers  and  waters  of  this  State ;  in 
exploring  the  obstructions  of  the  same  ;  reporting  the  best 
plans  for  removing  them  ;  suggesting  the  practicability  and 
utility  of  internal  improvement ;  in  directing  and  superin- 
tending the  application  of  such  appropriations  as  the 
Legislature  may  make  from  time  to  time  for  the  purpose 
of  internal  improvement ;  in  rendering  an  annual  report 
to  the  General  Assembly  of  his  official  transactions,  and  of 
the  transactions  of  his  department ;  and  in  such  other 
duties  as  are  usually  imposed  upon  such  officers,  and  as 
may  be  imposed  on  him,  from  time  to  time,  by  law." 

In  his  annual  message  of  1823,  Governor  Clark  said : 
"  I  am  constrained  to  inform  you  that  I  have  not,  during 
my  administration,  been  able  to  select  a  suitable  character, 
who  would  accept  the  appointment  of  civil  and  topograph- 
ical engineer.     There  have  been,  notwithstanding,  several 


LIFE  OF  GEOKGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

applications  made  for  the  appointment  of  gentlemen  of 
respectable  character  and  standing,  but  not  of  experienced 
knowledge,  which  I  deem  an  indispensable  requisite  in  the 
person  oil  whom  it  is  conferred.  1  am  still  of  the  opinion 
which  I  had  the  honor  of  suggesting  to  the  last  Legislature, 
that  it  would  be  advisable  to  unite  with  the  State  of  jX'orth 
Carolina  in  procuring  the  services  of  Mr.  Fulton. '••  " 
In  his  annual  message  of  1824,  Governor  Troup  said: 
The  period  has  arrived  when  Georgia  can  no  longer 
postpone  the  great  work  of  internal  improvement.  Tf  con- 
siderations of  the  highest  order  could  not  prevail.  State 
pride  would  be  a  motive  sufficiently  strong  to  determine 
her.  Some  of  her  sisters  are  already  far  in  Advance  <>f  her. 
Almost  all  of  them  have,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  em- 
barked in  it.  She  sees  the  most  enterprising  and  pel-severing 
nulling  them  already  deriving  advantages  from  it,  which 
place  them  in  the  first  rani  Vnce  and  power.  A 

State,  therefore,  like  Georgia,  blessed  by  Providence  with 
the  means  of  reaching  th-  ;  commercial  prosperity, 

by  a  road  plain,  direct  and  practicable,  will  no  longer 
linger  in  the  rear.  She  will  .ad,  with  a  little  pa- 

tience and  perseverance,  instead  of  decaying  cities  and  a 
vacillating  trade,  and,  what  is  must  humiliating,  that  trade 
seeking  an  emporium  elsewhere  than  within  her  .>wn  limits, 
she  will  witness  the  proud  and  animating  spectacle  of 
maritime  towns  restored  and  nourishing,  new  ones  rising 
up — her  trade  steady  and  increasing — her  lands  augmented 
in  value  and  improved  in  cultivation— the  face  of  the 
country  beautified  and  adorned  ;  and  she  may  witness  what 
was  once  deemed  impossible  to  human  efforts,  the  Western 
waters  mingling  with  her  own,  and  the  trade  of  Missouri 
and  Mississippi  floated  through  her  own  territory  to  her 
own  seaports,  and  all  this  within  the  compass  of  her  own 
resources,  provided  the  ordinary  economy,  prudence  and 
foresight  be  employed  to  husband,  cherish  and  improve 
them.  The  first  and  most  important  step  will  be  to  com- 
mand an  engineer  of  science  and  practical  skill,  and 
measures  have  been  taken  to  procure  the  services  of  such 
an  one.  As  it  is  indispensable  that  he  rank  among  the 
highest  of  his  profession,  it  follows  that  his  compensation 
should  be  fixed  at  such  a  rate  as  other  States  have  assigned 
to  the  like  order  of  talents  and  qualification.  I  am' per- 
suaded you  will  not  hesitate  to  do  this.  The  Legislature  of 
Georgia  is  too  enlightened  to  undervalue  the  services  of 

*  Hamilton  Fulton;  afterwards  appointed  Chief  Civil  Engineer  by  Governor  Troup.— ED 


CHAP.  VIII.]     REMARKS  ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  175 

mind ;  and,  looking  to  her  true  interest  in  this  particular,  she 
will  find  the  best  economy  in  the  highest  compensation. 
The  critical  accuracy  necessary  in  every  stage  of  the  pro- 
ceeding, the  minuteness  of  observation,  the  correctness  of 
calculation,  and  the  application  of  the  mathematical  science 
to  the  whole,  require  the  first  order  of  cultivated  mind,  and 
under  the  direction  of  such  a  mind  there  is  moral  certainty 
that  mistakes  or  errors  of  a  fatal  character  will  not  occur. 
In  avoiding  these  you  save  an  expenditure,  in  comparison 
with  which  the  salary  of  a  lifetime  would  be  as  nothing. 
The  laborious  topographical  explorations  and  surveys  which 
must  precede  the  plans  and  estimates  for  the  execution  of 
the  great  works,  will  also  require  time  ;  for  they  are  these 
which  will  determine  what  ought  first  to  be  undertaken — 
what  most  beneficial — what  most  practicable — what  least 
expensive. 

In  his  message  at  the  extra  session  in  May,  1825,  the 
Governor  again  referred  to  the  subject;  but  as  this  portion 
of  the  message  is  intimately  connected  with  the  Indian  con- 
troversy, and  the  whole  of  it  may  be  found  in  a  subsequent 
chapter,  we  forbear  extracts  here. 

At  the  regular  session  of  1825,  he  spoke  thus,  in  his  an- 
nual message  : 

A  resolution  of  the  Legislature,  instructing  the  Governor 
to  authorize  the  survey  of  the  intermediate  country,  with 
the  view  of  connecting  by  a  canal  or  road,  or  both,  the 
waters  of  the  Gulf  and  Atlantic — a  work  of  not  less  im- 
portance to  the  Union  than  the  connection  of  the  two  seas 
by  the  Isthmus  of  Panama,  and  of  most  easy  execution, 
has  not  been  carried  into  effect.  The  opinion  of  the  Ex- 
ecutive on  this  subject  has  been  made  known  to  the  Legis- 
lature. The  authorities  of  Georgia  cannot  pass  beyond 
their  own  limits  into  the  territory  of  any  other  State,  or  of 
the  United  States,  for  any  such  objects,  without  committing 
trespass,  and  it  is  not  understood  that  the  most  practicable 
line  of  communication  between  the  two  waters  would  fall 
wholly  within  the  jurisdiction  of  Georgia.  In  truth,  this 
is  most  appropriately  a  work  for  the  United  States,  without 
any  constitutional  hinderance  or  impediment ;  a  short  cut 
through  her  own  soil  would  accomplish  it,  and  the  whole 
Union  would  immediately  partake  the  benefits.  The  atten- 
tion of  the  President  had  been  invited  to  this  subject  before, 
and  whilst  he  acknowledged  the  great  importance  of  the 


176  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUr.  [(.'HAP.  VIII. 

work,  it  is  not  known  that  any  measures  have  been  taken 
in  relation  to  it.  His  attention  was  called,  at  the  same 
time,  to  the  practicability  of  uniting  the  eastern  and  west- 
ern waters,  by  a  canal  turning  the  base  of  the  Apalachian 
mountains  at  their  southern  extremity  ;  an  operation  of 
more  obvious  utility,  because  of  less  doubtful  practicability, 
than  the  contemplated  one  for  connecting  the  Chesapeake 
and  Ohio.  A  promise  was  given  that  this  also  should  re- 
ceive early  consideration,  but  nothing  more  has  been  heard 
of  it.  Without  bringing  into  question  here  the  power  of 
the  General  Government  to  make  canals  at  pleasure-  within 
the  jurisdiction  of  the  States,  it  would,  perhaps,  be  more 
advisable  for  the  State  governments  to  depend  for  inter- 
nal improvements  on  their  own  powers  and  resources;  and 
I  am  happy  to  inform  yon  that  the  State  of  Tennessee, 
having  a  common  interest  with  ourselves,  has  given  une- 
quivocal indications  of  her  willingness  to  co-operate  with 
us  in  this  undertaking.  We  have  continued  assurances  that 
a  civil  engineer  of  competent  qualifications  may  soon  be 
commanded  for  the  service  of  the  State.  To  give  you  an  out- 
line of  the  views  of  the  Executive  on  the  general  subject,  I 
have  caused  the  instructions,  which,  in  the  absence  of  the 
Legislature,  would  have  been  given  him,  to  be  laid  before 
you.  And  here  permit  me  to  suggest  the  policy  of  applying 
a  portion  of  the  fund  set  apart  for  internal  improvement, 
to  the  construction  of  roads  which  shall  so  traverse  the 
country  as  to  make  the  communication  between  the  differ- 
ent counties  and  the  commercial  towns,  ni"iv  sate,  easy  and 
expeditious.  Considering  climate  and  localities,  it  may  be 
deemed  expedient  to  invest  the  capital  in  a  description  of 
labor,  which,  under  proper  direction,  would  not  only  be 
efficient  for  the  accomplishment  of  the  work,  but  could  be 
ultimately  made  to  return  to  the  treasury  a  large  propor- 
tion of  the  amount  invested. 

From  the  "instructions"  we  make  the  following  extracts, 
which  are  deemed  appropriate  here : 

The  first  movement  will  be  the  exploration  of  the  country, 
with  a  view  to  make  yourself  master  of  its  topography ;  ancl, 
as  our  large  rivers  have  their  rise  in  the  north-western  ex- 
tremity of  the  State,  there  I  would  first  invite  your  attention, 
that  you  may  discover  the  facilities  and  difficulties  offered  by 
the  ground — the  water  which  may  be  commanded  for  all 
purposes,  and  the  points  at  which  the  rivers  may  be  most 
usefully  connected  by  a  grand  transverse  canal.  To  ascer- 
tain these  with  precision,  surveys  are  to  be  made,  levels  to 


CHAP.  VlfT.]  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT. 

.  be  taken,  and  estimates  formed  ;  and  these,  with  the  utmost 
diligence,  will  require  time.  This  first  movement  will  have 
steadily  in  view  an  eventual  communication  between  our 
own  waters  and  those  of  Tennessee  or  Alabama,  and  the 
connection  of  both  by  a  grand  canal  with  the  Atlantic, 
from  which,  as  a  great  artery,  the  lateral  ones  will  proceed, 
connecting  the  various  sections  and  interests  of  the  coun- 
try, so  that  it  may  be  said  by  each  and  by  all  that  none 
have  been  neglected,  and  that  nature  and  art  had  combined 
effectually  to  make  of  a  great  community  one  family,  be- 
tween the  most  distant  members  of  which  the  intercourse 
would  be  safe  and  easy  always.  The  Alabama  and  Chat- 
tahoochee,  which  empty  into  the  Gulf  of  Mexico — the  Ten- 
nessee, which  disembogues  into  the  Ohio,  and  the  Savannah 
and  Alatamaha,  which  discharge  into  the  Atlantic,  all  take 
their  rise  at  the  foot  of  the  Apalachian  mountains,  and  may 
almost  be  said  to  have  a  common  source.  How  far  the 
union  of  these  may  be  practicable — at  what  points  it  would 
be  most  feasible,  and  at  what  labor  and  expense  it  may  be 
accomplished,  are  objects  not  now  claiming  your  attention 
for  any  other  purpose  than,  by  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the 
country,  to  ascertain  what  may  be  done  at  a  future  day, 
either  by  the  General  Government,  or  by  the  States  more 
immediately  interested  in  opening  the  communication,  and 
at  what  points  either  the  Savannah  or  our  extreme  western 
waters  may  first  receive  either  the  water  of  the  Tennessee 
or  Alabama.  So  far  from  details  being  required  in  relation 
to  these,  general  conclusions  and  conjectural  estimates, 
formed  from  your  observation  of  the  country,  will  be  con- 
sidered satisfactory. 

On  the  20th  December,  1824,  a  joint  resolution  had  been 
approved,  authorizing  and  requesting  the  Governor  "to 
engage  the  services  of  a  competent  civil  and  topographical 
engineer,  on  such  terms  as  may  be  deemed  advantageous, 
and  that  he  cause  the  said  engineer,  with  the  necessary 
aid,  to  make  such  surveys,  estimates  and  reports  as  may  be 
practicable,  in  pursuance  of  the  laws  of  this  State,  in  order 
that  the  same  may  be  laid  before  the  Legislature  with  a 
view  to  the  commencement  of  a  system  of  internal  im- 
provement, and  that  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  dollars  be 
appropriated  to  carry  this  resolution  into  effect."  The  ap- 
propriation was  accordingly  made  during  the  same  session. 
23 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Cnxr.  VIII. 

On  the  21st  of  December,  1825,  an  act  was  passed,  "  to 
create  a  Board  of  Public  Works,  and  to  provide  for  the 
commencement  of  a  system  of  Internal  Improvement."  It 
provided  for  the  election,  by  joint  ballot  of  both  houses,  at 
that  session,  and  annually  thereafter,  of  seven  persons,  who, 
together  with  the  Governor  for  the  time  being,  should  con- 
stitute "  The  Board  of  Public  Works  of  the  State  of  Geor- 
gia," one  Commissioner  to  be  chosen  from  each  Congres- 
sional District,  the  Governor  to  be  ex-officio  President  of 
the  Board,  which  was  to  be  a  body  corporate,  &c.;  and  it 
was  declared  that  "  the  Board  shall,  as  soon  as  may  be,  cause 
the  necessary  surveys,  estimates  and  reports  to  be  made 
and  presented  to  the  Legislature,  with  reference  to  the  open- 
ing, improvement  and  construction  of  roads,  bridges,  navi- 
gable waters  and  canals  in  this  State,"  &c.,  tfcc.  Fifty 
thousand  dollars  were  appropriated  to  the  purposes  <>f  the 
act.  Under  this  act,  the  following  persons  were  eh 
Commissioners:  John  Elliott,  t'»r  the  first,  John  Schh-y, 
for  the  second,  John  G.  Pitman,  for  the  third,  Wilsnn 
Lumpkin,  for  the  fourth,  Joel  Crawford,  for  the  fifth,  Elijah 
H.  Burritt,  for  the  sixth,  and  flames  Hamilton  Couper,  for 
the  seventh,  Congressional  District. 

It  is  evident,  from  what  has  been  said,  that  a  groat  system 
of  canalling  was  in  the  contemplation  both  of  the  Gover- 
nor and  the  Legislature.  Kail  Roads  were  then  hardly 
thought  of  in  this  country,  or  in  any 'part  of  the  world.  The 
success  of  the  New  York  and  Erie  Canal  had  prepared  the 
minds  even  of  the  Southern  people  for  most  extravagant 
expectations  from  that  branch  of  internal  improvement. 
The  result  is  too  well  known  t<»  be  here  particularly  men- 
tioned. But  no  less  praise  is  due  to  those  patriotic  men  who 
devised  the  first  grand  scheme  of  internal  communication, 
under  the  administration  and  the  auspices  of  Governor 
Troup. 

Pursuant  to  a  call  of  the  Governor,  the  first  meeting  of 
the  Board  took  place  atMilledgeville,  on  the  20th  of  March, 
1826.  It  was  addressed  by  the  Governor,  its  ex-qfficio  Pre- 


CHAP.  VIII.]  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  179 

sident,  in  a  speech  which  we  would  gladly  transcribe,  if 
we  had  room  for  it.  The  following  extract  will  be  read 
with  interest : 

"  Fortunately,  a  happy  concurrence  of  opinions  between 
the  Legislative  and  Executive  branches  of  the  government, 
has  relieved  us,  for  the  present,  from  the  embarrassment  of 
rival  claims  and  conflicting  interests.  Expanded  views 
have  been  preferred  to  a  narrow  and  contracted  policy,  and 
we  commence  our  labors  untrammeled  by  local  projects  or 
undigested  details.  The  outlines  are  marked,  and  the  sub- 
divisions are  to  be  sketched  and  filled  up  by  degrees.  Our 
resources  are  not  to  be  exhausted  by  idle  or  vain  experi- 
ments, or  dissipated  by  the  heedless  policy  of  attempting 
everything  and  perfecting  nothing.  We  are  to  proceed 
cautiously,  that  we  may  proceed  safely,  giving  our  undi- 
vided means  and  labor  to  a  single  work  of  approved  utility, 
until  it  is  done  and  well  done.  The  Eastern  and  "Western 
waters  are  to  be  united,  and  to  the  accomplishment  of  this 
every  minor  interest  is  made  subservient.  The  large  rivers 
are  to  be  connected  with  each  other  and  with  the  sea,  by  a 
grand  transverse  canal,  as  nearly  central  as  practicable, 
from  which  the  lateral  ones  are  to  flow,  as  the  legislative 
authority  shall  from  time  to  time  decree.  Railways  and 
roads  are  subjects  of  your  jurisdiction,  and  within  the  scope 
of  your  powers  either  to  construct  or  to  improve  them — 
and,  for  these,  funds  are  at  your  disposal — corporate  powers 
given  to  you — and  the  geometric  skill  and  engineering  sci- 
ence of  the  country  placed  within  your  reach.  Your  first 
measures  will  be  chiefly  preparatory — to  appoint  the  artists 
necessary  to  carry  your  orders  into  effect — to  cause  to  be 
made  topographical  examinations  and  surveys  of  the  coun- 
try least  explored — to  direct  the  routes  to  be  traced — the 
levels  to  be  taken,  and  the  estimates  of  expense,  whether 
the  communications  be  opened  by  roads  or  by  canals,  and 
to  calculate  the  relative  advantages  in  different  positions  of 
roads,  canals  or  railways,  will  be  among  the  first  of  them  ; 
and  to  these  objects,  as  limited  by  law,  your  measures  will 
be  confined  for  the  present  year/' 

The  Governor  informed  the  Board  of  his  intention  to  ap- 
point Hamilton  Fulton  principal  Engineer ;  and,  after  the 
adoption  of  necessary  resolutions,  appointment  of  commit- 
tees and  the  transaction  of  other  business,  the  Board  ad- 
journed to  the  fourth  Monday  in  October.  During  the 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

recess  of  the  Board,  William  Terrell,  of  Sparta,  and  Alex- 
ander Telfair,  of  Savannah,  were  appointed  in  the  room  of 
Joel  Crawford  and  John  Elliott,  respectively,  who  had  re- 
signed. 

[1826.]  The  Board  met,  pursuant  to  adjournment,  at 
Milledgeville,  on  the  23d  of  October,  and,  alter  a  session  of 
twelve  days,  adjourned,  having  first  adopted  an  aide  report 
to  the  Legislature,  drawn  by  Mr.  Couper,  accompanied  by 
the  report  of  the  Chief  Engineer.  Our  regret  at  not  be- 
ing able  to  give  the  proceedings  of  the  Board  entir 
much  diminished  by  having  it  in  our  power  to  furnish  the 
following  condensed  statement  of  its  operations  and  the 
results,  furnished  the  writer  by  Mr.  Couper,  in  a  letter  dated 
St.  Simon's  Island,  August  14,  1858  : 

"By  the  Act  of  the  Legislature  of  1825,  establishing  the 
Board  of  Public  "Works,  Gov.  Troup  became,  ex-otlicio,  its 
President;  and  he  presided  at  nu»t.  if  not  all,  of  its  meet- 
ings. He  took  an  active  and  leading  part  in  all  of  the 
proceedings,  and  the  influence  of  his  opinions  was  felt  in 
the  most  important  decisions  of  the  Board.  Upon  the  : 
vital  question  which  arose, — and  that  which  baa  shaped  the 
course  of  the  public  improvements  of  Georgia,  the  co-cji- 
eration  of  Gov.  Troup  decided  the  action  of  the  Board,  and 
subsequently  that  of  the  State.  To  illustrate  this,  I  must  go 
into  some  detail,  and  incur  your  suspicion  of  my  egotism. 
I  refer,  however,  to  the  printed  proceedings  of  tne  Hoard, 
for  the  principal  facts  in  support  of  my  assert  i 

"  By  the  Act  of  the  Legislature  establishing  the  Board 
of  Public  Works,  an  extensive  system  of  Canal*  was  con- 
templated, extending,  in  the  one  direction,  from  the  Ten- 
nessee river  to  the  Atlantic,  and,  in  the  other,  from  the 
Flint  to  the  Savannah  river;  and  the  first  duty  enjoined  on 
the  Board  was  to  make  the  requisite  surveys  for  both.  At 
the  first  session  of  the  Board,  two  corps  of  Engineers  were 
organized  to  make  the  surveys;  and  they  were  employed, 
during  the  summer  of  1826,  on  them.  At  the  next  session, 
in  the  autumn,  reports  were  made  by  the  Engineers  to  the 
Board,  and  it  then  devolved  on  the  latter  to  present  their 
report  to  the  Legislature.  At  this  stage  I  presented  my 
views  to  the  Board,  in  opposition  to  the  system  of  canals, 
and  in  support  of  the  substitution  of  rail  roads  in  their 
place. 


CHAP.  VIIL]  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  181 

"  A  recent  visit  to  England  had  demonstrated  to  my  own 
mind,  that,  except  for  heavy  transportation,  rail  roads  were 
destined  to  supersede  canals  ;  and  I  was  most  anxious  that 
the  State  should  not  involve  herself  in  a  work  of  very 
great  expense  and  of  very  doubtful  advantage.  The  sub- 
ject being  new,  I  found  myself,  at  first,  in  a  minority ;  but, 
being  ably  supported  by  the  concurrent  opinion  of  the 
Chief  Engineer,  Mr.  Fulton,  and  ultimately  receiving  the 
support  of  Gov.  Troup,  I  was  authorized  by  the  Board,  in 
the  Report  which  I  made  to  the  Legislature,  as  Chairman 
of  the  committee,  to  recommend  the  abandonment,  for  the 
present,  of  the  system  of  canals,  and  a  trial,  on  a  limited 
scale,  of  rail  roads  as  a  substitute. 

"  The  quarrel  among  the  Engineers,  and  the  enlistment 
of  the  two  dominant  parties  in  it,  occasioned  the  dissolution 
of  the  Board,  and  the  abandonment  of  the  system  of  Inter- 
nal Improvement.  This  was  fortunate,  as  the  public  mind 
was  not  then  prepared  for  rail  roads,  and  a  perseverance  in 
the  construction  of  the  grand  system  of  canals  would  have 
cost  the  State  from  $10,000,000  to  $15,000,000. 

"  After  a  very  earnest  conversation  with  Gov.  Troup,  he 
at  last  said  to  me  :  '  Well,  Mr.  Couper,  I  will  go  with  you 
in  favor  of  rail  roads ;  but  what  power  do  you  contem- 
plate ?'  My  reply  was,  '  locomotives,  of  course.'  '  Good 
God,'  said  he,  '  I  cannot  stand  that ;  I  will  go  to  the  extent 
of  horse-power.'  This  was  in  1826,  when  there  were  only 
22  miles  of  rail  road  in  the  whole  world.  What  a  contrast 
a  third  of  a  century  has  produced !" 

It  should  be  mentioned  that  three  days  after  the  passing 
of  the  act  creating  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  to  wit,  on 
the  24th  December,  1825,  the  General  Assembly  passed  an 
act  "  to  lay  out  a  central  Canal  or  Railway  through  this 
State,"  the  main  purpose  being  stated  in  the  act  to  be  "  the 
ultimate  object  of  joining  the  waters  of  the  Tennessee  or 
Mississippi  rivers  "  ;  with  canals  to  unite  with  the  Central 
Canal,  &c.,  and  with  liberty  to  the  Board  of  Public  Works 
to  take  into  consideration  the  comparative  advantage  of 
railways  over  canals,  &c.,  &c.  Still,  as  has  already  been 
said,  railroads  were  hardly  in  the  contemplation  of  the 
authorities  of  Georgia  at  that  time,  as  a  part  of  the  perma- 
nent internal  improvement  of  the  State.  The  gradual 


182  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  51.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  Till 

substitution  of  this  system  for  canals,  the  awakening  of 
public  attention  to  its  superiority,  and  the  extension  and 
perfection  of  that  system,  are  subjects  of  curious  consid- 
eration. That  Governor  Troup  was  one  of  the  iirst  to  be 
convinced  of  this  superiority,  is  shown  by  the  letter  of  Mr. 
Couper.  To  these  two  gentlemen,  perhaps,  more  than  to 
any  others  of  their  compeers,  belongs  the  credit  of  having 
saved  the  State  from  the  ruinously  expensive  system  of 
canalling,  worthless  anywhere  in  comparison  with  rail- 
roads, and  especially  in  a  southern  country. 

In  his  annual  message  of  1826,  Governor  Troup  said  : 
"  After  a  tedious  correspondence  witli  several  of  the 
most  distinguished  of  the  Engineers  of  the  United  St:. 
from  which  no  satisfactory  result  could  be  promised, 
Hamilton  Fulton,  Esq.,  a  gentleman  of  known  integrity  of 
character,  and  recommended  by  the  most  eminent  of  the 
Engineers  of  England,  was  appointed  to  the  office  of  Chief 
Civil  Engineer.  It  is  hoped  that  Mr.  Fulton  will  not  dis- 
appoint the  just  expectations  of  the  public.  The  proceed- 
ings of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  after  their  Iirst 
organization,  are  submitted  to  you.  A  j»lan::  of  Internal 
Improvement  having  been  digested  and  jiiv~rril>cd  l>y  the 
Legislature,  nothing  remaineu  for  them  but  t>  a<lo|,r  the 
most  prompt  and  appropriate  measures  to  carry  it  into  effect. 
The  report  of  the  Board  and  of  the  Chief  .Engineer  will 
disclose  the  first  practical  operations  under  them,  and  will 
enable  you  to  decide  upon  the  merits  of  the  past,  and  what 
for  the  future,  in  furtherance  of  the  plan,  the  public  inter- 
est shall  require.  To  open  new  sources  of  commerce,  and 
give  facilities  to  those  already  open,  arc  the  great  objects 
of  the  system.  If,  by  a  communication  between  the  waters 
of  Tennessee  and  those  of  Georgia,  the  trade  of  the  Missis- 
sippi and  Ohio  can  be  diverted  to  our  Atlantic  ports,  the 
freight  and  commissions  would  more  than  suffice  to  replace, 
with  the  ordinary  interest,  the  capital  which  might  be  em- 
ployed in  effecting  that  communication ;  and,  if  this  were 
true  at  the  beginning,  the  progressively  increasing  com- 
merce which  an  almost  unbounded  region,  with  rapidly 
augmenting  population,  would  supply,  might  convert  a 

*  Tho  act  of  24th  December,  182,'),  alreaily  <  itcd,  contained  thin  jim vision  :  '-Tliat  the 
Board  of  Public  Works  shall  not  enter  on  any  further  plan  or  scheme  for  internal  improve- 
ment, till  the  duties  imposed  by  this  act  are  fulfilled,  unless  they  are  BO  directed  by  tho 
Legislature  of  this  State.'7— ED. 


CHAP.  VIII.]  HIS  MESSAGE.  183 

channel  of  intercourse  into  a  permanent  source  of  revenue 
to  the  State.  Whatever  can  be  realized  in  this  respect, 
will  depend  on  the  facilities  given  by  the  projected  canal 
across  the  Peninsula  of  Florida,  which,  forming  a  line  of 
steamboat  communication  between  the  Western  waters  and 
our  Atlantic  ports,  cheap,  continuous  and  comparatively 
safe,  may  have  advantages  over  the  short  and  more  direct 
route,  not  open  to  this  valuable  instrument  of  conveyance. 
As  connected  with  such  an  undertaking,  the  States  of  Ala- 
bama and  Tennessee  have  been  consulted,  and  their  views 
in  relation  to  it,  so  far  as  communicated,  are  submitted. 
With  respect  to  that  part  of  public  improvement  designed 
to  facilitate  the  intercourses  of  trade  within  our  own  limits, 
the  obvious  rule  will  be  to  adapt  our  measures  not  only  to 
the  actual  state  of  the  trade  and  commerce  of  the  country, 
but  to  the  means  which  we  can  command  to  give  efficacy 
and  success  to  them ;  and  whether  canals,  or  rail  roads,  or 
turnpikes  shall,  in  different  situations,  be  considered  as 
best  adapted  to  this  end,  to  limit  both  capital  and  labor  to 
a  single  object  at  a  time,  until  that  object  is  accomplished." 
Then  follow  these  remarkable  words :  "  It  need,  not  exalte 
surprise,  if,  before  a  long  time,  with  the  exception  of  the 
level  alluvial  country,  tlie  RAIL  will  universally  supersede 
the  CANAL,  having  the  advantage  of  cheapness,  expedition, 
healthfulness,  safety  and  certainty" 

On  the  26th  of  December,  1826,  the  act  creating  the 
Board  of  Public  Works,  and  that  to  lay  out  a  Central 
Canal  or  Railway,  were  repealed. 

The  following  extracts  from  Governor  Troup's  message 
of  1827,  contain  his  last  official  views  and  his  parting  advice 
on  the  subject  of  Internal  Improvement: 

I  invite  your  attention  again  to  the  subject  of  Internal 
Improvement,  and  to  the  dangers  inseparable  from  a  longer 
postponement  of  a  judicious  system  adapted  to  the  wants 
and  resources  of  the  State.  It  is  mortifying  to  our  pride, 
and  it  will  prove  ruinous  to  our  interest,  that  every  State  in 
the  Union  and  every  State  in  Europe,  advancing  in  the 
course  of  improvement,  opening  communications  between 
the  most  distant  parts  of  its  territory,  cheapening  its  trans- 
portation, augmenting  its  trade  and  commerce,  arid  ce- 
menting the  union  of  its  people,  give  signs  of  increasing 
illumination,  whilst  Georgia,  with  some  claims  to  intelli- 
gence and  public  spirit,  has  not  yet  executed  a  solitary 
work  or  raised  a  single  monument  in  illustration  of  her  de- 


184.  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

votion  to  the  agricultural  and  commercial  prosperity  of  her 
people.  We  must  soon  withdraw  from  the  rivalry  of  trade, 
or  share  it  on  the  most  unequal  terms.  No  fertility  of  soil,  no 
geniality  of  climate,  can  compensate  to  Georgia  a  difference 
of  freight  of  five  to  one  against  her,  in  a  competition  with  her 
neighbor  States.  Her  industry  will  be  paralyzed,  and  her 
capital  exhausted.  Already,  the  wheat-grower  of  the  western 
parts  of  New  York,  from  which  formerly  a  bushel  of  wheat 
was  not  exported,  supplants  the  wheat-grower  of  Georgia  in 
his  own  market ;  and,  ere  long,  the  cotton  market  reduced  to 
the  lowest  price  at  which  the  article  can  be  raised,  Georgia, 
with  such  fearful  odds  against  her,  will  be  forced  to  aban- 
don the  cultivation.  In  this,  as  in  all  the  articles  of  a 
bulky  or  weighty  carriage,  the  ei»tt<>n  States  will  undersell 
her  in  the  same  proportion  which  their  facilities  of  trans- 
portation bear  to  her  difficulties;  and,  when  reduced  to  the 
ultimate  point  of  stagnation  and  depression,  she  may  awake 
from  her  repose  with  regrets  and  lamentations,  but  without 
the  means  or  the  resources  to  remedy  the  evil.  You  are 
not  invited  to  premature  or  unprofitable  efforts.  You  are 
asked  to  keep  pace  with  your  sisters  in  the  improvements 
which  correspond  to  the  actual  state  of  the  trade,  wealth 
and  population  of  the  country;  and,  if  IK  •thing  more,  at  lea-t 
to  make  the  high  roads  the  avenues  of  a  cheap  and  expe- 
ditious transportation  at  all  times,  and  the  navigable 
streams  likewise  in  the  degree  and  to  the  extent  of  which 
they  are  susceptible.  The  Report  of  the  Chief  Engineer, 
who  has  continued  in  the  public  service  at  my  particular 
request,  will  show  what,  with  very  limited  means,  has  been 
done  or  attempted,  during  the  past  season,  and  what  it  may 
be  useful  or  profitable  to  do  hereafter.  It  is  not  to  be  ex- 
pected that  this  or  any  other  competent  officer  will  devote 
himself  to  the  service  of  the  State,  for  a  compensation 
scarcely  sufficient  for  the  maintenance  of  his  family,  when 
the  same  qualifications  in  other  States  find  a  double  or 
triple  allowance.  It  would  be  wiser  to  abolish  the  office.* 

It  is  unnecessary  to  pursue  this  subject  further.  Enough 
has  been  said  to  exhibit  the  views  of  Governor  Troup  on 
this  subject ;  and  although  subsequent  events  showed,  and 
the  sentiment  of  the  country  is  now  in  favor  of,  the  pro- 
priety of  entrusting  works  of  internal  improvement  to 
private  enterprise,  yet,  in  looking  back  to  the  history  of 

*    The  office  was  afterwards  abolished,  under  a  joint  resolution  passed  in  1828.— ED. 


CHAP.  VIII.]        LETTER  ON  INTERNAL  IMPROVEMENT.  185 

such  works,  whether  public  or  private,  it  must  be  admitted 
that  the  course  of  Governor  Troup  on  the  subj  ect  had  no  little 
influence,  at  the  time,  in  rousing  public  attention  to  the 
great  system  of  works  which  have  conduced  to  place  Georgia 
amongst  the  foremost  States  of  the  Union,  and  that  the  in- 
fluence of  his  example  has  been  felt  for  good  to  the  present 
time. 

In  addition  to  what  has  been  said  on  the  subject  of  in- 
ternal improvement,  it  is  proper  to  present  to  the  reader 
the  following  letter  from  Gov.  Troup  to  a  committee  of 
gentlemen  at  St.  Mary's  : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  GEO.,      | 
Milledgeville,  ZQth  July,  1824.  j 

Gentlemen : — I  have  received  your  resolutions  and  me- 
morial. On  the  subject  of  Internal  Improvement  they  speak 
my  own  sentiments. 

Every  argument  will  be  urged  upon  the  Legislature,  and 
of  course  will  not  be  urged  in  vain,  to  do  its  duty  in  this 
respect.  Until  they  decide,  your  wishes  can  in  no  respect 
be  gratified.  No  power  is  reposed  here  to  gratify  them. 

You  ask  the  appointment,  pro  tempore,  of  a  special  En- 
gineer to  make  the  surveys  and  estimates  of  the  works 
which  will  be  necessary  to  accomplish  the  connection  be- 
tween the  waters  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  Suwanee — no  such 
power  is  lodged  with  the  Executive.  It  is  due  to  your  very 
respectful  and  respectable  memorial,  to  make  known  to  you 
what  the  Executive  has  deemed  it  his  duty  to  do  in  this 
respect. 

The  resolution  of  the  Legislature  which  authorized  the 
Governor  to  appoint  an  Engineer,  has  been  unavailing  for 
that  purpose,  as  might  have  been  easily  foreseen.  A  salary 
which  it  authorized,  of  $3,000,  could  not  be  supposed  to 
command  adequate  qualifications,  when  such  qualifications 
were  compensated  by  other  States  at  the  rate  of  from  5  to 
10,000.  All  the  eiforts,  therefore,  made  in  past  time  by  my 
predecessor,  failed  of  effect.  They  have  not  been  renewed 
by  me,  on  the  same  ground,  because  on  the  same  groinid 
they  would  have  been  equally  unavailing.  But,  trusting 
and  believing  that  the  Legislature  would,  upon  their  first 
meeting,  place  this  business  on  the  only  basis  upon  which 
it  should  rest,  I  have  been  unremittingly  engaged  in  em- 
ploying all  the  means  left  me  to  procure  a  competent  Civil 
Engineer  for  the  great  objects  of  Internal  Improvement  in 
24 


186  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROIT.  [CiiAr.  VIII. 

the  State  of  Georgia.  No  man  is  worth  employing  who  is 
not,  scientifically  and  practically,  an  Engineer  of  the  first 
order.  No  mistakes  or  errors  must  be  committed  in  the 
outset,  as,  in  the  state  of  public  opinion,  they  would  have 
the  effect  of  devolving  on  posterity  what  it  is  both  our  in- 
terest and  our  duty  to  undertake  ourselves. 

A  Civil  Engineer  of  these  qualifications  is  in  a  fair  way 
of  being  engaged  conditionally,  but  conditionally  only.  If 
the  Legislature  should  adopt  my  recommendations,  lie  will 
be  employed,  and  under  the  most  favorable  auspices  for  the 
permanent  benefit  and  advantage  of  the  State. 

With  respect  to  the  subject  to  which  you  have  more  es- 
pecially invited  my  attention,  1  have  only  to  say,-that  on 
the  very  first  opening  which  presented  itself  of  executing 
the  resolution  by  means  which  did  not  depend  upon  our- 
selves, I  availed  myself  of  it  by  addressing  a  letter  to  tin- 
President  himself,  requesting  that,  under  the  late  act  of 
Congress,  competent  Civil  Engineers  should  be  dispatched 
to  Georgia  to  attend  to  her  interests  under  that  act,  and 
more  particularly  invited  his  attention  to  the  survey,  plans, 
estimates,  &c.,  of  the  grounds  and  works  for  connecting  the 
St.  Mary's  with  the  Suwance.  To  this  communication, 
though  made  many  weeks  ago,  no  answer  lias  been  re- 
ceived.* "When  received,  whatever  may  be  the  purport, 
it  will  be  made  known  to  you  through  the  public  prints. 
Very  respectfully,  gentlemen, 

Your  ob't  serv't, 

Messrs.  Beltoii  A.  Copp  ami  G.  M.  TJROUI-. 

Bachlott,  Committee,  St.  Mary's. 

*  Just  received  and  will  be  published  in  the  next  papers. 
— G.  M.  T. 

The  correspondence  with  the  President,  to  which  refer- 
ence is  above  made,  is  here  inserted  in  full.  It  will  be 
found  referred  to  in  the  Governor's  annual  message  of 
1824 ;  and  it  will  be  seen  that  the  Governor's  application 
did  not  at  all  commit  him  to  {in  admission  of  the  power  of 
Congress  to  legislate  in  cases  not  falling  within  the  letter  of 
the  Constitution. 

EOUTIVE  .Di:rAUTMi:.NT,  <iix>.,  ) 

M&ledgeyitte,  1'WA  June,  1824.      j 

Sir : — The  Congress  having  thought  proper  to  pass  the 
act  of  the  30th  April,  which  authorizes  the  President  to 


CHAP.  VIII.]  OFFICIAL  CORRESPONDENCE.  187 

procure  the  necessary  surveys,  plans  and  estimates  for  roads 
and  canals,  and  feeling  it  to  be  my  duty  to  ask  for  Georgia 
a  proportionate  share  of  the  benefits  or  advantages  which 
may  result  to  the  Union  from  such  a  measure,  I  beg  leave 
to  call  your  attention  to  the  importance  of  connecting  the 
waters  of  the  Savannah  with  those  of  the  Tennessee  river — 
the  waters  of  the  St.  Mary's  with  those  of  the  Suwanee  in 
East  Florida,  and  of  directing  to  be  made  any  other  sur- 
veys, plans  and  estimates  in  which  Georgia  may  take  an  in- 
terest, and  which  the  President  may  think  proper  to  order 
under  the  act  of  Congress. 

"With  great  consideration  and  respect, 

G.   M.   TKOTTP. 
The  President  of  the  United  States, 

"Washington  City. 

DEPARTMENT  OF  WAE,  July  15th,  1824. 
Sir  : — The  President  of  the  United  States  has  transmitted 
your  letter,  of  the  29th  ult.,  to  this  department,  with  in- 
structions to  inform  you  that  in  carrying  into  effect  the  act 
of  Congress,  of  the  30th  April  last,  directing  surveys  to  be 
made  for  the  purpose  of  constructing  roads  and  canals, 
the  interest  of  all  the  great  sections  of  the  country  will  be 
duly  attended  to,  comprehending  those  of  the  Southern 
States,  and,  in  connection  with  their  interests,  as  well  as 
that  of  the  nation,  he  has  determined  at  an  early  period  to 
direct  a  survey  for  a  national  road  from  the  seat  of  govern- 
ment to  New  Orleans. 

In  relation  to  the  objects  to  which  you  call  his  attention, 
as  being  particularly  connected  with  the  interest  of  the 
State  of  Georgia,  he  deems  them  to  be  important  and 
worthy  of  the  attention  of  the  nation ;  but  it  will  be  impos- 
sible, under  the  general  arrangements  which  have  been 
made  to  carry  into  effect  the  act  above  referred  to,  to  bestow 
immediate  attention  on  them. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  with  great  respect, 
Your  obedient  servant, 

J.    C.   CALHOUN. 

His  Excellency  G.  M.  Troup,  Governor  of  the 
State  of  Georgia,  Milledgeville. 

The  reader  will  find  the  Act  of  Congress,  to  which  re- 
ference is  made  in  the  preceding  correspondence,  in  the 
U.  S.  Statutes  at  large,  vol.  4,  pages  22  and  23,  entitled  "  An 
Act  to  procure  the  necessary  surveys,  plans  and  estimates 


188  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTJP.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

upon  the  subject  of  roads  and  canals"  ;  and,  on  pages  139 
and  140,  of  the  same  volume,  another  act,  entitled  "  An 
Act  for  the  survey  of  a  route  for  a  canal  between  the  At- 
lantic and  the  Gulf  of  Mexico."  It  needs  scarcely  be 
added  that  nothing  practical  ever  resulted  from  these  acts, 
at  least  so  far  as  concerned  the  development  of  the  re- 
sources of  Georgia. 

Having  thus  referred  to  Governor  Troup's  connection 
with  Internal  Improvement,  it  is  proper  here  to  notice  an- 
other subject  which  has  always  divided  the  public  mind  of 
Georgia  as  to  its  advantages  and  evils — we  mean  the  Land 
Lottery  system — one  to  which  Governor  Troup  publicly 
and  officially  gave  the  sanction  of  his  name  in  lsi_T>.  For 
his  views  thus  announced,  we  must  refer  the  reader  to  his 
message  at  the  extra  session  of  the  Legislature  in  that  yc-ar. 
The  first  act  passed  by  the  General  Assembly  for  disposing 
of  the  public  lands,  was  approved  by  Governor  Milledge 
on  the  llth  day  of  May,  1803,  and  was  entitled  "  An  Act 
to  make  distribution  of  the  late  cession  of  Lands,  obtained 
from  the  Creek  Nation  Tjy  the  United  States  Cortirni^n> 
in  a  Treaty  entered  into  at  or  near  Fort  Wilkinson,  on  the 
sixteenth  day  of  June,  eighteen  hun<lr<<l  ami  A/vv1  Gov. 
Troup  was  then  a  member  of  the  Legislature  ;  but  whether 
he  voted,  or  how  he  voted,  we  have  now  no  means  of 
knowing.  That  he  was  opposed  to  a  distribution  of  the 
public  lands  without  important  reservations  for  the  great 
interests  of  public  education,  internal  improvement,  &c., 
may  be  seen  by  the  message  to  which  reference  has  just 
been  made.  The  whole  subject  was  one  of  delicacy  ;  and 
whilst  the  opponents  of  the  system  were  neither  few  nor 
wanting  in  intelligence,  yet  they  were  most  decidedly  a 
minority  of  the  people.  Governor  Trouprs  approval  of  the 
Lottery  act  of  1825,  is  no  evidence,  however,  that  the  de- 
tails of  the  bill  were  in  consonance  with  his  own  opinions. 
The  probability  is  he  would  have  made  larger  reservations 
for  public  purposes.  Still,  he  deferred,  on  this  as  on  other 
occasions,  to  the  will  of  the  people  as  expressed  through 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  LAND  LOTTERY  SYSTEM.  189 

their  representatives.  "The  lands,"  said  he,  "belong  to 
them  in  joint  and  several  property,  and  none  but  them- 
selves or  their  immediate  representatives  can  rightfully 
dispose  of  them." 

But,  independently  of  other  considerations,  there  were 
grave  political  reasons  why  Georgia  should  come  into  full 
possession  of  the  .territory  acquired  from  the  Creeks  in 
1825.  These  reasons  will  appear  in  the  sequel ;  and  it  may 
suffice  here  to  say  that  the  time  seemed  fully  to  have  come 
when  all  hope  of  remaining  longer  within  the  constitutional 
boundaries  of  the  State,  against  the  spirit  of  the  articles  of 
cession  of  1802,  should  be  taken  from  savages,  whose  resi- 
dence in  Georgia  was  not  only  of  no  benefit  to  either  the 
white  man  or  the  red,  but  was  actually  detrimental  to  the 
true  interests  of  the  former.  A  survey,  and  early  settle- 
ment of  the  lands  by  lottery,  seemed  to  give  better  prom- 
ise of  this  result  than  any  other  mode ;  and,  right  or  wrong, 
that  system  has  been  heartily  approved  by  a  large  majority 
of  the  people  of  Georgia.* 

As  the  biographer  of  Governor  Troup,  the  writer  con- 
fesses to  a  suspension,  if  not  an  entire  change,  of  opinion, 
on  the  subject,  since  he  undertook  this  work  ;  and  he  feels 
that  he  cannot  do  a  better  service  to  the  public  than  by  giv- 
ing the  following  views  of  the  origin,  policy  and  propriety 
of  the  land  lottery  system,  from  the  pen  of  a  gentleman  f 
whose  opportunities  have  been  ample,  and  who  seems  to  have 
given  to  the  subject  the  most  careful  consideration  : 

"  The  peace  of  1783  found  a  population  of  some  35,000 
or  40,000  thinly  spread  over  about  one-third  of  our  State  as 

*  Such  was  the  popularity  of  the  Lottery  system,  that,  out  of  fifty-three  who  voted  in 
the  Senate,  at  the  extra  session  of  1825,  only  three  voted  against  the  bill ;  and,  in  the  House, 
only  ten  out  of  ninety.  The  Senators' were  James  Bozeman,  of  Baldwin,  John  J.  Maxwell , 
of  Bryan,  and  John  Whitehead,  of  Burke.  The  Representatives  were  William  Law,  Jlorde- 
cai  Myers  and  Robert  W.  Pooler,  of  Chatham,  Joseph  Quarterman  and  George  W.  Wal- 
thour,  of  Liberty,  Belton  A.  Copp,  of  Camden,  S.  M.  Ingersoll,  of  Bibb,  Simeon  Oliver,  of 
Elbert,  I.  H.  Saffold,  of  Washington,  and  James  Rembert,  of  Wilkes. — ED. 

t  Dr.  W.  C.  Daniell— in  a  letter  to  the  editor,  dated  7th  May,  1859.  It  is  due  to  this 
gentleman  to  state,  that,  whilst  ho  admits  a  change  of  opinion  in  regard  to  the  Land  Lot- 
tery, he  speaks,  in  his  note  to  the  editor,  of  the  foregoing  contribution  "as  the  best  and 
only  amende  which  I  can  now  make  to  a  profoundly  wise  policy,  which  I  prejudged  be- 
cause I  did  not  comprehend  it  in  its  full  bearings." — ED. 


190  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTJP.  [CHAP.  VIII. 

now  defined,  with  a  western  frontier  running  from  the  St. 
Mary's  river  to  the  Cnrrahee  mountain,  some  four  hundred 
miles,  and  that  frontier  rendered  insecure  by  the  pres- 
ence of  tribes  of  Indians,  who  could  not  be  trusted  as 
friends  nor  subdued  as  enemies.  The  Federal  Government 
was  Tinable  to  supply  the  protection  claimed,  and  Georgia 
left  to  her  own  inadequate  resources.  Indian  incur- 
sions were  not  infrequent.  A  law  of  the  State,  still  on  our 
statute  books,  requires  that  every  man  capable  of  bearing 
anus  shall  take  them  with  him,  with  a  specified  amount  of 
ammunition,  when  he  shall  attend  public  worship.  < 
were  stationed  at  intervals,  on  a  line  parallel  to  the  Oc< 
river,  and  near  it,  to  give  the  alarm  upon  the  appearance 
of  the  Indians  in  the  settlements,  so  that  families  near  those 
stations  should  seek  refuge  in  the  block-houses  built,  for 
that  purpose  chiefly  by  individual  enterprise.  The  farms 
were  cultivated  in  succession,  by  their  owners  in  a  body, 
with  their  arms  stacked  at  a  convenient  distance  for  alarms 
to  be  given  by  their  vigilant  and  faithful  dogs.  Occasional 
forays  were  made  by  the  Indians,  to  kill,  seal]),  burn  and 
carry  away.  Then  the  men  in  the  neighborhood  would 
assemble,  usually  at  a  block-house  as  a  central  point — ap- 
point their  officers  and  dash  off  in  hot  pursuit.  Some; ' 
they  would  overtake  the  retreating  marauders — at  times 
encumbered  with  prisoners  and  spoils — attack  and  usually 
disperse  them,  with  more  or  less  of  mutual  loss ;  at  other 
times,  they  would  follow  the  trail  to  the  Indian  village,  at- 
tack it,  disperse  the  inhabitants, burn  their  wigwams,  destn  >v 
the  standing  crops,  and  carry  off  recovered  prisoners  and 
stock. 

"  About  1837,  in  returning  from  a  visit  to  the  bereaved 
family  of  my  deceased  brother,  who  had  died  in  the  Petit 
Gulf  Hills,  Mississippi,  I  stopped  to  dinner  at  the  house  of 
a  Mrs.  Collins,  in  Emanuel  or  Bulloch  county,  who  had 
been  scalped  in  one  of  these  Indian  forays  late  in  the  last 
century.  She  was  a  tall,  stately  woman,  upwards  of  eighty 
years  old,  and  wore  a  handkerchief  on  her  head  to  conceal 
the  loss  which  she  had  sustained  from  the  scalping-knife  of 
an  Indian  warrior. 

"  There  was  no  established  peace  between  the  frontier 
Georgians  and  Creek  Indians,  from  the  Revolutionary  war 
until  after  the  close  of  the  war  of  1812-'! 5  between  the 
United  States  and  Great  Britain,  after  which  they  were 
well  whipped  and  virtually  destroyed  or  dispersed  by  the 
Hero  of  New  Orleans.  During  the  colonial  government 
in  Georgia,  as  in  other  British  American  provinces,  the 


CHAP.  VIII.]  THE  LAND  LOTTERY  SYSTEM.  191 

great  demand  was  for  occupants  for  the  boundless  domain 
of  forest  land,  and  the  latter  was  freely  distributed  to  all 
who  would  occupy  but  a  small  portion  of  the  large  grants 
freely  supplied  to  settlers  at  nominal  prices.  This  policy 
necessarily  scattered  the  population  thinly  over  the  terri- 
tory. Here,  this  condition  was  rendered  still  worse  by 
the  sale,  at  nominal  prices,  of  a  body  of  land  acquired 
by  the  Crown,  early  in  the  Kevolution,  from  the  Indians, 
and  now  embraced  in  the  counties  of  Washington,  Han- 
cock, Taliaferro,  Greene,  Oglethorpe,  Clark  and  Jackson, 
east  of  the  Oconee  and  Apalachee  rivers,  and  to  which  we 
are  indebted  for  the  introduction  of  a  word  into  our  ex- 
pansive language.  It  was  sold  in  large  bodies,  at  nominal 
prices,  soon  after  Peace,  chiefly  to  wealthy  emigrants  from, 
and  to  land  speculators  in,  Virginia  and  North  Carolina  ; 
and,  held  by  such  men  and  in  such  bodies,  how  could  it  be 
rendered  a  barrier  to  the  powerful  and  hostile  tribes  of 
Indians  who  fished  and  hunted  on  the  western  banks  of 
these  streams?  Fauche's  troop  of  one  hundred  mounted 
men,  raised  to  guard  the  four  hundred  miles  of  frontier, 
even  with  all  his  energy  and  tact,  and  all  their  industry  and 
endurance,  could  supply  but  a  very  inadequate  protection. 
The  Federal  Government  was  in  its  swaddling  clothes,  and 
did  little  or  nothing  in  reply  to  appeals  for  protection 
against  the  Indians,  which  went  up  to  distress  and  harass 
the  great  and  good  Washington  almost  daily  from  the 
frontier  settlements  extending  from  Florida  to  Canada. 

"  Georgia,  the  youngest  of  the  thirteen  colonies  recently , 
admitted  to  their  Independence,  possessed  of  a  large  terri- 
tory occupied  by  a  small  and  sparse  population  by  no 
means  homogeneous,  was  left  to  her  own  resources  to  pro- 
vide that  protection  to  herself  which  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment was  unable  to  furnish.  How  was  that  necessity  to  be 
supplied  ?  Near  twenty  weary  years  of  occasional  conflicts 
and  continual  insecurity  had  failed  to  build  up  a  barrier 
population  on  the  boundary  rivers,  when  the  settlement  of 
the  Yazoo  controversy  by  the  treaty  of  1802,  which  divested 
Georgia  of  the  territory  now  composing  the  States  of  Ala- 
bama and  Mississippi,  supplied  the  means  of  acquiring  the 
Indian  land  west  of  the  Oconee  and  east  of  the  Ocmulgee 
- ;  and  the  distribution  of  that  land  in  small  parcels  or 
tracts,  by  Lottery,  was  determined  on  as  the  best  mode  of 
establishing  a  barrier  population  against  the  aggressive 
Indians. 


"  It  has  never  been 


Lottery  was  fully 


een  denied  that  the  purpose  sought  in  the 
and  promptly  accomplished ;  but  it  has 


192  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  31.  TROIT.  [Ciur.  VIII. 

been  contended  that  the  land  should  have  been  sold,  and 
the  money  received  applied  to  Education,  Internal  Improve- 
ments, <fec.,  «fcc.  It  has  long  been  affirmed,  and  is,  I  be- 
lieve, almost  annually  repeated,  that  the  Land  system  of 
the  United  States  does  not  pay.  With  us,  even  after  the 
gift  of  the  land  in  lots,  the  sale  of  the  fractions,  (the  small 
portions  cut  off  in  the  surveys  by  straight  lines,)  yielded  a 
fund  which  has  been  in  part  wasted  in  various  schemes  of 
opening  rivers,  <fcc.,  and  in  part  applied  to  the  uses  of  the 
University,  county  academies  ana  poor  schools  ;  with  how 
much  success,  I  leave  to  those  to  say  who  have  administered 
these  bounties  or  partaken  of  the  benefits  of  the  provision. 
One  thing  is  certain :  small  as  was  the  proportion  of  the 
land  sold,  to  the  whole,  the  purchasers  of  the  fractions  were 
enabled  to  obtain  of  the  Legislature  indulgences  on  their 
notes  given  in  payment,  from  time  to  time,  until  this  action 
became  annual  and  chronic  ;  and  the  applications  ceased 
because  the  debtors  were  deceased  and  their  estates  dis- 
tributed, or  had  been  hurried  "Westward  by  the  spirit  of 
enterprise  so  characteristic  of  us.  In  1833,  I  saw  amongst 
the  assets  of  the  Central  Bank — then  virtually  the  State 
Treasury — notes  of  various  denominations,  dated  in  the 
early  days  of  this  century,  and  held  as  part  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  fractional  sales — where,  doubtless,  your  eminent 
Collector  of  Autographs  could  add  even  to  his  collection. 
If  we  admit  that  all  the  money  applied  to  the  improvement 
of  our  rivers,  has  been  as  successful  as  wise  men  anticipated, 
and  that  devoted  to  Education  has  accomplished  all  that 
the  ambitious  promised  and  the  good  expected,  we  must 
still  believe  that  if  all  the  land  had  been  sold,  it  would 
have  yielded  less  money  than  the  sales  of  the  fractions 
have  brought  into  the  Treasury,  and  that  here,  at  least, 
part  has  been  greater  than  the  whole.  If  the  purchasers 
of  one  or  five  per  cent,  of  the  land,  controlled  the  Legisla- 
ture to  the  extent  of  a  virtual  remission  of  ten  or  fifty  per 
cent,  of  the  purchase  money,  how  much  would  the  State 
have  received,  had  she  sold  all  the  land  (  And  then  sluj 
would  not  have  established  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Ocmul- 
gee  that  barrier  of  stout  hearts  and  strong  arms — the 
necessity  of  that  day  in  Georgia.  That  was  no  Whitefield 
enterprise  to  build  'an  Orphan  House  Ix-ibre  the  children 
were  begotten  or  their  parents  had  mated,  but  a  self-reared 
protection  to  a  recent  and  sparse  population — to  save  feeble 
woman  and  helpless  infancy  from  the  scalping-knife  and 
the  firebrand  of  a  border  savage  enemy.  That  was  achieved ; 
and  how  can  we  measure  that  by  money,  or  weigh  the  lives 


CHAP.  VIII.]  LAND  LOTTERY.  -[93 

of  the  previous  generation  from  whose  loins  we  have  sprung, 
in  the  balance  with  any  measures  involving  merely  ameli- 
orations of  our  condition,  whether  real  or  imaginary  ? 

"  May  we  not  indeed  say  that  our  Land  system  has  been 
wiser  than  that  of  the  United  States,  which,  thus  far  at 
least,  has  been  a  tax  upon  the  Treasury,  whilst  ours  has  paid 
something  above  and  beyond  the  protection  which  it  gave 
to  our  frontier  ? 

"  You  will  see  that  I  have  spoken  of  our  Land  Lottery 
policy  as  a  system  originating,  as  I  think,  in  a  clear  and 
wise  view  of  our  condition,  when  it  was  introduced.  Of 
the  abuses  to  which  it  is  said  to  have  given  rise,  I  need  not 
speak.  They  affect  not  the  principle.  How  often  is  it  that 
what  was  at  first  a  pure  and  simple  good,  becomes  the 
nucleus  around  which  errors  and  abuses  gather — parasites 
that  exhaust  the  vitality  of  the  tree — vermin  that  devour 
the  life-blood  of  the  animal !  " 

25 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

Beginning  of  JiuJfnn  Difficulties.  —  Cherokee  Controversy.  —  Fed- 
eral Relations.  —  Slavery  Aglt<it!"i<  l>y  Ohio  L>  ://'•••  In  fm-c.  — 
Gov.  Troup's  Jirst  Annual  M>smi>/>'.  —  h'/>c(i»n  »f  C,nv<rn»r 
i/iriii  to  the  People.  —  ObmMJMIOfMrj  iif>j»>inti-if  (n  fruit 
til''  C'/v<7.-.s-.  —  d'nn  ninr  i-iijVi.  <t't1  to  f>  C<  i<>  /.-'  /'''j/-  //'  .  <l''' 


IN  this  and  succeeding  chapters,  we  are  to  consider  that 
portion  of  the  life  of  Gov.  Troup  which  is  admitted  to  have 
been  the  most  interesting  in  his  history,  not  only  because 
of  the  conspicuous  part  which  he  acted  in  the  important 
events  of  that  time,  but  because  of  the  events  themselves; 
and  however  some  may  affect  to  sneer  at  what  they  pretend 
to  consider  a  small  matter  —  one  which,  as  is  further  pro- 
tended, might  have  been  consummated  under  the  direc- 
tion of  some  other  and  less  sagacious  and  determined 
statesman  —  yet,  it  will  be  found,  on  investigating  the  origin 
and  results  of  the  Indian,  and  especially  the  Creek,  contro- 
versy, that  great  moral  and  political  truths  underlay  the 
whole,  and  that  the  development  and  practical  application 
of  them  were  owing  more  to  Gov.  Troup  than  to  any  other 
man  of  his  day.  No  history  of  this  period  could  be  com- 
plete without  the  most  frequent  reference  to  him  ;  and  his 
biography  for  that  period  is  a  history  of  Georgia  for  the 
same  time.  Fortunately,  this  history  is  enveloped  in  no 
doubt  ;  the  evidence  speaks  for  itself;  and,  like  all  history 
depending  upon  documentary  evidence  for  its  elucidation, 
the  chronicler  is  relieved  from  vague  and  empty  specula- 
tion ;  and,  instead  of  mere  surmising,  he  has  only  to  quote 
the  well  authenticated  records  of  the  day  as  the  best  vin- 
dication of  the  truth  of  his  story. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  cession  by 
Georgia,  in  1802,  to  the  United  States,  of  all  that  portion 
of  her  western  territory  lying  west  of  her  present  western 


CHAP.  IX.]  CESSION  OF   1802.  195 

boundary,  and  east  of  the  Mississippi  river — an  immense 
tract  of  valuable  land,  embracing  almost  the  entire  extent 
of  the  present  States  of  Alabama  and  Mississippi.  The 
land,  thus  ceded,  amounted  to  about  fifty  millions  of  acres, 
and  the  consideration  to  be  paid  to  Georgia  was  the  sum  of 
.one  million  two  hundred  and  fifty  thousand  dollars.  The 
fourth  article  of  the  act  of  "  agreement  and  cession  "  was 
in  the  following  words : 

"  That  the  United  States  shall,  at  their  own  expense,  ex- 
tinguish, for  the  use  of  Georgia,  as  early  as  the  same  can 
bepeaceably  obtained  on  reasonable  terms,  the  Indian  title 
to  the  coanty  of  Tallassee,  to  the  lands  left  out  by  the  line 
drawn  by  the  Creeks  in  the  year  one  thousand  seven  hun- 
dred and  ninety-eight,  which  had  been  previously  granted 
by  the  State  of  Georgia  ;  both  which  tracts  had  formerly 
been  yielded  by  the  Indians;  and  to  the  lands  within  the 
forks  of  the  Oconee  and  Ocmulgee  rivers ;  for  which  sev- 
eral objects  the  President  of  the  United  States  has  directed 
that  a  treaty  shall  be  immediately  held  with  the  Creeks, 
and  that  the  United  States  shall,  in  the  same  manner,  ex- 
tinguish tJie  Indian  title  to  all  the  other  lands  within  the 
State  of  Georgia" 

It  would  be  going  beyond  the  design  of  this  work,  and 
lead  to  undue  prolixity,  to  give  a  history  of  the  measures 
by  which  Georgia,  at  various  times  between  the  act  of 
cession  and  the  beginning  of  Gov.  Troup's  administration, 
came  into  possession  of  lands  in  the  occupancy  of  the  Indians 
at  the  time  the  cession  was  made,  to  wit,  24th  April,  1802  ;* 
or  to  enumerate  the  various  excuses  made  for  the  delays  in 
extinguishing  the  Indian  title  to  all  the  lands  within  the 
boundaries  of  the  State  as  laid  down  in  the  articles  of 
cession  and  defined  in  the  constitution  of  Georgia  ;  or  to 
specify  the  various  appeals  which,  in  the  mean  time,  were 
made,  to  induce  the  General  Government  to  do  an  act  not 
only  of  simple  justice  but  of  plighted  faith.  We  cannot, 
however,  omit  a  speoial  reference  to  u  the  memorial,  re- 
monstrance and  protest "  of  the  Legislature,  to  the  Presi- 

*The  cession  was  ratified  by  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  on  the  16th  of  June,  1802.— ED. 


196  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

dent  of  the  United  States,  approved  by  the  Governor,  Gen. 
Clark,  on  the  22d  December,  1819,  from  which  we  make 
the  following  extract : 

"  Your  memorialists  are  impelled,  by  a  sense  of  duty 
which  they  owe  themselves  and  the  people  of  Georgia, 
again  to  call  the  attention  of  your  excellency  to  a  subject 
in  which  they  consider  their  best  and  most  permanent  in-' 
terests  involved.  It  has  been  the  unfortunate  lot  of  our 
State  to  be  embroiled  in  the  question  of  'territorial  right,' 
almost  from  the  commencement  of  her  existence.  The 
feelings  excited  by  such  warmth  and  succession  of  contest, 
have  been  heightened  and  aggravated  by  inconveniencee 
and  exposures  incident  to  our  frontier  situation.  To  alle- 
viate this  condition,  to  circumscribe  our  extent  of  settle- 
ment and  become  more  defensible;  and  finally,  to  settle 
the  questions  of  territory,  limits  and  boundaries,  \vere  the 
prevailing  inducements  to  the  vast  retinqnishment  made 
by  Georgia  to  the  United  States,  in  the  articles  of  ;IL 
ment  and  cession  of  1802.  Abstractedly  from  these  in- 
ducements, it  will  not  be  contended  that  other  considerations 
could  have  produced  the  effect.  The  period  hns'now  arrived, 
when,  in  the  opinion  of  your  memorialists,  the  subject  is  no 
longer  to  be  regulated  by  the  rules  of  policy  and  conve- 
nience, but  has  assumed  the  more  definite  and  substantial 
shape  of  positive  right.  It  has  long  been  the  desire  of 
Georgia,  that  her  settlements  should  be  extended  to  her 
ultimate  limits;  that  the  soil  within  her  boundaries  should 
be  subjected  to  her  control,  and  that  her  police,  organixa- 
tion  and  government  should  be  fixed  and  permanent.  For 
the  fulfilment  of  these  desires,  we  have  waited  the  tide  of 
events,  and  observed  the  march  of  time  for  seventeen  years. 
Within  this  period,  we  have  witnessed  with  much  gratifi- 
cation the  spread  of  the  Union,  and  the  accession  of  States 
and  Territories  greater  in  extent  than  the  original  confed- 
eration. Two  of  the  members  of  this  vast  family  are  the 
descendants  of  Georgia ;  yet,  Georgia  loses  her  strength 
andjnfluence  as  a  member  of  the  .Republic,  retarded,  as 
she  is,  in  her  growth  and  population,  and  denied  the  foster- 
ing aid  of  her  common  parent.'' 

After  eloquently  narrating  some  of  Georgia's  grievances 
in  the  premises,  the  remonstrance  added : 
_  "  Your  memorialists  respectfully  solicit,  that  Commis- 
sioners acting  under  the  authority  of  the  United  States, 
may  treat  with  the  Creek  and  Cherokee  nations  of  Indians, 
for  further  cessions  of  territory  for  the  use  of  Georgia." 


CHAP.  IX.]  SPECIAL  MESSAGE. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  1821,  a  treaty*  was  concluded  at 
Indian  Spring,  with  the  Creek  Indians,  by  which  a  consid- 
erable cession  of  land  was  made  to  Georgia,  and  of  which 
land  the  (original)  counties  of  Dooly,  Houstoun,  Monroe, 
Fayette  and  Henry  were  laid  off  by  act  of  the  Legislature 
passed  15th  May,  1821.  The  Creeks  and  Cherokees,  how- 
ever, still  remained  in  possession  of  a  large  portion  of  the 
best  territory  of  Georgia. 

In  this  posture  Governor  Troup  found  affairs  when  he 
assumed  the  duties  of  the  executive  government  in  1823. 
In  December,  of  that  year,  he  sent  the  following  message  to 
the  Legislature : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  GEORGIA,  ) 
Milledgeville,  15^  J)ec.,  1823.    j 

The  repeated  remonstrances  to  the  general  government, 
urging  the  extinguishment  of  Indian  claims  to  lands  within 
our  territorial  limits,  have  only  resulted  in  partial  conces- 
sions of  territory.  Notwithstanding  the  pledged  faith  of 
the  general  government  in  the  articles  of  agreement  and 
cession,  frequent  occasions  have  been  omitted  to  fulfil  her 
obligations  to  Georgia.  It  is  mortifying  enough  to  advert 
to  the  single  one  of  1814,  f  when,  disregarding  positive 

*    For  this  treaty,  see  U.  S.  Statutes  at  Large,  vol.  7,  pages  215,  216.— ED. 

t  The  occasion  to  which  reference  is  here  made,  is  evidently  the  treaty  at  Fort 
Jackson,  dated  9th  August,  1814,  by  which  not  only  was  a  large  cession  of  land,  now 
lying  within  the  State  of  Alabama,  made  to  the  United  States,  as  "an  equivalent  for  all 
expenses  incurred  in  prosecuting"  a  war  against  the  Creeks,  whilst  what  was  then  con- 
sidered a  comparatively  worthless  portion  was  acquired  for  Georgia,  but  in  the  second 
article  of  which  the  United  States  agreed  to  "  guarantee  to  the  Creek  nation,  the  integrity 
of  all  their  territory  castwardly  and  northwardly  of"  a  certain  line.  It  was  in  reference 
to  this  treaty,  that  Mr.  Bevan,  in  his  report  to  tho  Governor,  in  1825,  said :  "  it  is  well  known, 
THAT  at  Fort  Jackson  presented  to  the  General  Government  a  favorable  opportunity  for  a 
full  compliance  with  all  the  stipulations  of  its  agreement  with  Georgia;  but  the  United 
States  (although  bound  to  us,)  owed  money  to  others,  which  consideration,  blending  itself 
with  other  views  of  policy  or  expediency,  (synonymous  terms,)  induced  them  to  extinguish 
the  Indian  title  to  a  very  great  quantity  of  rich  land  in  Alabama,  while  Georgia  was  told 
that  she  must  be  content  with  a  portion  of  pine-barren  territory,"  &c.,  &c. 

For  the  Resolution,  Memorial  and  Remonstrance  of  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  against 
this  treaty,  in  1816,  the  reader  is  referred  to  Lamar's  Digest,  pp.  1168,  1169,  1170  and  1171. 
In  the  memorial  and  remonstrance,  tho  Legislature  said :  "  No  crisis  ever  presented  such 
prospects  of  an  advantageous  extinguishment  of  Indian  title,  as  the  period  of  the  treaty 
referred  to.  A  severe  chastisement  had  been  inflicted  on  the  Creeks;  then-  power  was 
broken — then-  arrogance  subdued;  and  it  only  became  necessary,  under  these  circum- 
stances, to  have  demanded  and  obtained  an  accession  to  such  terms  as  the  United  States, 
looking  to  their  compact  with  Georgia,  might  have  thought  proper  to  have  dictated."— ED. 


19S  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

obligations  to  Georgia,  as  stipulated  by  compact,  the  United 
States  suffered  a  large  extent  of  Indian  country  to  pass  into 
tbe  hands  of  others  to  whom  she  was  not  bound  by  en- 
gagements of  a'jy  k?nd.  The  same  treaty  ought  to  have 
extinguished  for  Georgia  the  Indian  claims  to  all.  the  lands 
within  her  limits — she  was  not  noticed  in  it.,  In  every 
subsequent  negotiation  with  the  Indians,  it  would  have  been 
as  easy  to  have  acquired  the  whole,  as  part  of  the  territory. 
The  failure  is  to  be  sought  in  the  parsimonious  appropria- 
tions of  money  on  the  part  of  the  United  States,  and  the 
coDseqjent  limited  instructions  to  her  agents.  A  Aviso 
eco  -omy  would  have  dictated  the  application  <>f  abundant 
ireano  under  favorable  auspices,  to  do  at  once  what  she 
knew  sooner  or  later  she  would  be  obliged  to  do.  Ki.>in 
the  moment  the  general  government  entertained  a  belief 
that  Geo/gia  would  be  satisfied  with  small  appropri.i 
of  money  for  the  acquisition  of  small  portions  of  lands, 
things  have  been  growing  worse  and  worse.  The  general 
government  itself  is  daily  multiplying  obstacles  (innocent- 
ly, to  be  sure,)  to  the  further  acquisition,  and  its  practice  is 
so  far  variant  from  its  theory,  which  teaehes  that  a  concen- 
tration of  the  tribes  is  one  of  the  n\»<\  ellectnal  jnod. 
advancing  their  civilization.  Georgia  has  given  to  the 
United  States  50,000,000  of  acres  for  1.  dollars. 

The  United  States  have  gratuitously  given  to  the  Yazoo 
claimants  between  four  and  live  millions  dollars  besi 
and  when  you  have  added  to  this  the  paltry  sums  she  has 
paid  in  extinguishment  of  Indian  title  within  our  limits, 
you  will  find  a  net  balance  in  her  favor  to  the  amount  of 
twenty  millions  of  dollars  at  least.  The  words,  "  as  soon  as 
may  be,"  in  the  articles  of  agreement  and  cession,  will  no 
longer  avail  the  United  States  any  thing ;  the  operation  ot 
these  has  been  long  since  estoppecl  by  time.  It  was  never 
in  contemplation  of  either  of  the  parties  to  that  agreement, 
that  twenty  years  should  elapse,  and  that  Georgia  should 
find  herself  in  possession  of  only  one  half  of  her  reserved 
territory.  Indeed,  further  procrastination,  as  inconsistent 
as  it  is  with  justice  to  Georgia,  can  subserve  no  useful  pur- 
poses to  the  United  States,  or  to  the  Indians  th erase  1 
The  latter  have  discernment  enough  to  perceive  that,  soon, 
very  soon,  Georgia  must  have  what  is  her  own.  The 
United  States  recognize  in  practice,  and  in  theory,  the 
allodiality  to  be  in  Georgia,  the  temporary  usufruct  only  in 
the  Indians.  Of  what  value  is  this  right  of  use  within  our 
limits,  in  the  present  exhausted  state  of  the  game '.  If  the 
passion  of  the  hunter  is  to  be  gratified,  send  him  across  the 


CHAP.  IX.]  GEORGIA  MEMORIAL.  199 

Mississippi ;  if  the  mind  is  to  be  improved  into  civilization, 
limit  him  to  the  pursuits  of  agriculture.  Blending  justice 
with  authority,  the  United  States  have  but  to  command,  and 
the  claims  of  Georgia  will  be  satisfied.  The  treaty  lately 
held  with  the  Seminoles  is  in  illustration.  The.  United 
States  had  little  else  to  do  than  to  prescribe  the  limits  with- 
in which  those  tribes  were  to  retire. 

I  recommend  to  you,  therefore,  to  address  yourselves, 
once  more,  and  for  the  last  time,  to  the  justice  of  the  United 
States,  in  language  firm  but  respectful ;  to  demand  and 
insist  on,  1st,  A  liberal  appropriation  of  money  to  extinguish 
the  Indian  claims  to  all  the  lands  within  our  territorial 
limits — 2dly,  Commanding  instructions  to  her  agents,  who- 
ever they  may  be,  that  what  of  right  ought  to  be  done, 
shall  be  done. 

G.  M.  TKOTTP. 

The  message  having  been  referred,  in  the  Senate,  to  the 
joint  committee  on  the  State  of  the  Republic,  they  made  a 
report,*  on  the  18th  December,  which  finally  passed  both 
Houses,  and  was  approved  by  the  Governor  on  the  20th. 
From  the  report  we  make  the  following  extracts : 

The  Committee  on  the  State  of  the  Republic,  to  whom 
was  referred  the  communication  of  his  Excellency  the 
Governor,  on  the  subject  of  the  extinguishment  of  Indian 
claims  to  the  lands  within  the  territorial  limits  of  Georgia, 
beg  leave  to  report : 

That  they  have  derived  much  gratification  from  the  peru- 
sal of  this  interesting  document.  It  presents  to  them  an 
unequivocal  manifestation  of  the  disposition  of  the  Execu- 
tive to  sustain  the  just  .rights  of  the  State  on  the  important 
subject  of  the  extension  of  jurisdictional  limits,  with  a 
firmness  which  is  tempered  by  discretion,  and  a  zeal  which 
is  guided  by  intelligence — a  disposition,  to  which,  in  the 
unanimous  opinion  of  this  committee,  every  suggestion  of 
duty,  and  every  feeling  of  honorable  pride,  on  the  part  of 
this  Legislature,  will  be  accordant  and  responsive.  The 
committee  do  not  deem  it  necessary,  in  this  report,  to  enter 
into  a  minute  examination  of  the  luminous  exposition  of  the 
rights  of  this  State,  which  is  contained  in  the  communica- 
tion of  his  Excellency  the  Governor.  Adopting  it  as  unan- 
imously as  they  do,  and  in  its  whole  extent,  they  believe 

*  This  report,  although  not  presented  by  Judge  Berrien,  who  was  second  on  the  commit- 
tee, yet  bears  unmistakable  marks  of  his  pen.  It  deserves  to  bo  inserted  at  length ;  but 
•want  of  space  forbids. — ED. 


o,M,  LIFE  OF  GEORGE    M.    TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

they  will  best  perform  the  duty  which  is  aligned  to 
them,  bv  recommending  that  an  address  be  presented  to 
the  President  of  the  United  States,  based  on  the  principles 
and  fortified  by  the  arguments  of  this  communication. 

Then  follows  an  eloquent  address  to  tlu-  Piv-idont,  the 
conclusion  of  which  is  as  follows  : 

These  memorialists  have  seen  witli  what  facility,  the 
Cuited  States,  "  blending  justice  with  authority."  have  been 
enabled  to  prescribe  to  the  native  tribes  inhabiting  the  con- 
tiguous Territory  of  Florida,  the  limits  of  their  range,  and 
they  do  not  doubt  that  a  similar  exercise  of  a  legitimate 
authority,  equally  tempered  by  justice,  will  suffice  to  obtain 
for  Georgia  all  which  she  desires.  They  ask,  therefore,  fn  »m 
the  government  of  the  Union,  certainly  with  the  respect 
which  they  have  always  felt,  and  which  they  have  omitted 
no  proper  occasion  to  m:mife>t.  to  the  government  of  their 
choice  and  of  their  confidence,  but  at  the  same  time  \vith 
the  earnestness  which  is  authori/ed  by  the  ju.-tiee  of  their 
claim,  and  demanded  by  the  nee  01  their  constitu- 

ents, that  a  liberal  appropriation   may  be  made  for  th* 
tinguishment  of  the  Indian  title  to  all   the  remaining  lands 
within  the  limits  of  Georgia,  and  that  commissioners  may 
be  appointed,  with  instructions  in  .  ent  to  eit'ect  this 

indispensable  object,  by  a  proper  representation  to  the  In- 
dian tribes  of  tne  just  claims  of  Georgia — of  the  solemn 
obligation  of  the  United  the  improvement 

in  their  own  condition,  which  will  result  from  their  acqui- 
escence. 

The  report  was  agreed  to,  '  /,  in  the  Senate, 

and  probably  in  the  House  also,  although  the  journal  of  the 
latter  body  simply  shows  that  it  was  passed  without  divi- 
sion. 

Daring  the  same  session,  the  Governor  approved  joint 
resolutions  embodying  a  memorial  and  remonstrance  of  the 
Legislature  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  "relative 
to  the  claims  of  the  citizens  of  Georgia,  under  the  treaty 
made  at  the  Indian  Springs  on  the  eighth  of  January, 
eighteen  hundred  and  twenty-one,"  drawn  by  Judge  I'.er- 
rien,  and  to  which  reference  is  made  in  the  Governors 
annual  message  of  ISi'l. 

Appended  to  the  report  already  noticed  as  having  been 


CHAP.  XL]   LETTER  FROM  THE  SECRETARY  OF  WAR.      20l 

approved  by  the  Governor  on  20th  December,  was  a  reso- 
lution, "  that  a  copy  of  the  foregoing  memorial  and  remon- 
strance be  forwarded  to  the  Senators  and  Representatives 
of  the  State  of  Georgia  in  the  Congress  of  the  United 
States,  and  that  they  be  requested  to  use  their  exertions  for 
the  attainment  of  its  object."  The  Governor  accordingly 
communicated  the  proceedings  of  the  Legislature  to  the 
Georgia  delegation  in  Congress,  and  the  same  were  imme- 
diately thereafter  made  known  to  the  government  at  "Wash- 
ington. On  the  17th  of  February,  1824,  the  Secretary  of 
War  addressed  the  following  note  to  Gov.  Troup : 

DEPARTMENT  OF  WAR,  17th  February,  1824. 
Sir: — I  am  directed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States 
to  enclose  for  your  information,  copies  of  a  communication 
from  the  Cherokee  delegation,  now  at  this  place,  the  answer 
of  this  department  to  their  communication,  and  the  reply, 
by  which  you  will  perceive  that  the  nation  is  very  adverse 
to  making  any  additional  cessions  of  land  to  the  United 
States.  I  avail  myself  of  the  opportunity,  to  assure  you 
that  it  will  afford  the  President  much  pleasure  to  adopt  any 
measure,  in  his  power,  which  may  tend  to  the  fulfilment  of 
the  convention  with  the  State  of  Georgia,  with  the  least 
possible  delay.  With  this  view,  he  would  be  gratified  to 
receive  the  aid  of  your  opinion  on  a  subject  so  interesting 
to  the  State  over  which  you  preside. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

J.  C.  CALHOUN. 

Accompanying  this  letter  was  one  to  the  President,  dated 
January  19th,  182-i,  signed  by  John  Ross,  Geo.  Lowrey, 
Major  Ridge  and  Elijah  Hicks,  calling  themselves  "the 
delegation  of  the  Cherokee  nation,"  and  in  which,  amongst 
other  things,  they  say,  "  the  Cherokee  nation  have  now 
come  to  a  decisive  and  unalterable  conclusion  not  to  cede 
away  any  more  lands."  In  his  answer  to  them,  the  Sec- 
retary, after  stating,  "  you  must  be  sensible  that  it  will  be 
impossible  for  you  to  remain,  for  any  length  of  time,  in 
your  present  situation,  as  a  distinct  society,  or  nation,  within 
the  limits  of  Georgia,  or  of  any  other  State,"  &c.,  &c., 
added,  "  it  remains  for  the  Cherokee  nation  to  decide  for 
26 


OQ2  '-I"'  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  (Ciur.  IX. 

itself,  whether  it  will  contribute  most  to  their  own  welfare 
and  happiness  lor  them  to  retain  their  present  title  to  their 
lands,  and  remain  where  they  are,  exposed  to  the  discontent 
of  Georgia  and  the  pressure  of  her  citizens,  or  to  cede  it  to 
the  United  States  for  Georgia,  at  a  lair  price  to  be  paid, 
either  in  other  lands  beyond  the  Mississippi,  or  in  money  to 
be  vested  in  lands  to  be  purchased  for  them,  as  individuals, 
within  that  or  any  other  State.  Should  the  nation  decide 
to  relinquish  its  present  title,  and  to  adopt  either  of  the  al- 
ternatives suggested,  this  government  is  disposed  to  act 
generously  with  them,"  &c.,  Arc.  In  their  reply,  "  the  dele- 
gation of  the  Cherokee  nation,"  amongst  other  things,  said, 
"  we  beg  leave  to  say  to  the  President,  through  you,  the 
Cherokee  nation  are  sensible  that  the  United  States  are 
bound,  by  its  compact  with  Georgia,  to  extinguish,  for  the 
use  of  that  State,  the  Indian  title  to  lamls  within  the  limits 
claimed  by  the  State,  as  soon  as  it  can  be  done  2><.(it\ally 
and  on  reasonable  conditions;  and  are  also  sensible  that 
this  compact  is  no  more  than  a  conditional  one,  and,  with- 
out the  free  and  voluntary  consent  of  the  Cherokee  nation, 
can  never  be  complied  with  on  the  part  of  the  United 
States  ;  and  having  been  duly  authorized  to  make  known 
to  the  government  of  the  United  States  the  true  sentiments 
and  disposition  of  the  nation  on  this  subject,  the  1'nsitk-iit 
has  been  informed  that  '  the  Cherokees  have  come  to  a 
decisive  and  unalterable  conclusion  never  to  cede  way  any 
more  lands.  And  as  the  extinguishment  of  Cherokee  titlo 
to  lauds  can  never  be  obtained  on  conditions  which  will 
accord  with  the  import  of  the  compact  between  the  United 
States  and  Georgia,  it  is  desirable  that  the  government 
should  adopt  some  other  means  to  satisfy  Georgia,  than  to 
remain  any  longer  under  anticipation  of  being  enabled  to 
accomplish  the  object  of  purchasing  the  Cherokee  title." 
The  reply  further  suggested  that  the  limits  of  Georgia,  if 
too  small,  might  be  increased  by  an  addition  from  the 
Florida*,  and  that  the  Cherokee  nation  might  one  day 
"enter  into  a  treaty  with  the  United  States,  for  admission 
as  citizens  under  the  form  of  a  Territorial  or  State  govern- 


CHAP.  IX.]  EXECUTIVE  COMMUNICATION.  203 

ment ! " — although  they  admitted  that  "  the  situation  of  the 
nation  is  not  sufficiently  improved  in  the  arts  of  civilized 
life  to  warrant  any  change  at  present."* 

The  Senators  from  Georgia,  at  that  time,  were  John 
Elliott  and  Nicholas  Ware ;  the  Representatives  were  Joel 
Abbott,  George  Gary,  Thomas  W.  Cobb,  Alfred  Cuthbert, 
John  Forsyth,  Edward  F.  Tattnall  and  Wiley  Thompson ; 
Col.  Tattnall  was  sick  and  absent.  In  their  letter  to  the 
Governor,  after  referring  to  an  interview  which  two  of  their 
number  had  had  with  the  President,  and  to  the  "  corres- 
pondence which  had  been  held  between  the  Secretary  of 
War  and  certain  Cherokee  Chiefs,"  they  added,  "  we  shall 
not  attempt  to  describe  our  surprise  at  the  novel  character 
of  this  correspondence."  In  conclusion,  they  said,  "should 
the  President  address  a  message  to  Congress  on  the  subject, 
our  course  will  be  a  plain  one.  If  he  should  not,  it  does 
not  appear  to  us  proper  to  do  more  than  we  have  done,  as  a 
correspondence  has  been  opened  between  your  Excellency 
and  the  Secretary  of  War,  at  the  request  of  that  officer,  no 
doubt  acting  under  the  direction  of  the  President." 

The  aid  of  Gov.  Troupes  opinion  having  beeii  invoked 
by  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  he  promptly  ad- 
dressed to  that  officer  the  following  communication : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  GEO.,          ) 
Milledgeville,  28th  February,  1824.      ) 

Sir : — I  have  received  this  day  your  letter  of  the  17th 
instant.  Be  pleased  to  present  to  the  President  my  ac- 
knowledgments for  the  attention  which  he  has  given  to  the 
requisition  of  Georgia,  and  especially  for  the  manifestation 
of  his  sincere  desire  to  adopt  any  measure  in  his  power 
which  may  tend  to  the  fulfilment  of  the  convention  with 
the  State  of  Georgia,  with  the  least  possible  delay. 

In  compliance  with  his  wishes,  I  hasten  to  lay  before  him 
my  views  and  expectations,  as  connected  with  this  fulfil- 
ment. In  your  effort  to  open  a  negotiation  with  the  Che- 
rokee delegation,  for  extinguishment  of  claims,  you  are 
met  by  a  flat  negative  to  two  fair  and  liberal  propositions  : 

*  It  was  strongly  suspected,  at  the  time,  that  the  Indians  were  influenced  to  this  course  of 
conduct  by  designing  white  men.  The  history  of  their  race  shows  conclusively  that  they  can- 
not endure  too  close  proximity  with  a  superior  race.  Gov.  Troup  lived  to  witness  the  peaceable 
removal  of  the  "  Cherokee  nation"  beyond  the  Mississippi. — ED. 


204  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROFP.  [CHAP,  IX. 

the  first,  to  purchase  for  valuable  consideration  in  money  ; 
the  second,  to  accommodate  them  with  equivalent  territory 
in  a  favorable  situation  beyond  the  Mississippi.  Unreason- 
able as  the  answer  has  been,  my  mind  was  fully  prepared 
for  such  an  one.  It  had  been  made  known  to  me,  some  time 
before,  that  a  council  had  been  formed  in  the  nation,  for  the 
special  purpose  of  coming  to  the  resolution  that  the  State 
of  Georgia  should  never  acquire,  for  any  consideration, 
another  acre  of  Cherokee  land,  either  through  the  agency 
of  the  United  States  or  otherwise  ;  and,  in  conformity  with 
this  resolution,  all  the  measures  were  preconcerted  to  en- 
able the  Chiefs  to  present  the;  'Before  the  President, 
with  a  boldness  bordering  on  eiiVontcry.  and  to  receive  his 
first  advance  to  negotiation  with  the  emphatic  no!  a  word 
easily  pronounced,  but  in  this  instance  most  unadvisedly: 
not  the  spontaneous  offspring  of  Indian  feeling  and  senti- 
ment, but  a  word  put  into  his  mouth  by  white  men,  who  are 
nourished  and  protected  by  the  power  of  the  United  States  ; 
who  have  no  common  interest  or  sympathies  with  t 
whom  they  instigate  to  use  it ;  and  who,  fixed  upon  tic 
almost  without  mete  or  bounds,  regard  it  as  a  goodly 
heritage  for  their  descendants,  which  :  r  can  limit  or 
take  away.  0 

From  the  day  of  the  signature  of  the  article-  of  agree- 
ment and  cession,  this  word  ceased  to  be  available  to  the 
Indians,  for  any  permanent  interest  of  their  own.  From 
that  day,  the  power  of  protestation  which  they  have  so  re- 
cently interposed,  departed  from  them,  and  could  never  l>o 
used  but  for  a  little  delay,  or  for  a  bcl  tin.  On  that 

day  the  fee  simple  passed  from  the  rightful  proprietors  to 
Georgia,  and  Georgia,  after  a  lapse,  of  twenty  years,  de- 
mands nothing  of  the  competent  authority  but  tic-  am 
of  the  tenants  in  possession.  The  answer  is  not  only  no! 
but  never.  And  is  this  a  fit  and  proper  one  to  be  given  to 
the  demand  of  the  people  "1  .>,  who  have  endured 

BO  long  and  so  patiently  ?  who  have  parted  with  an  empire 
for  a  song?  who  have  waited  to  -ec  the  t'nited  States  reim- 
bursed all  their  expenses,  and  a  net  revenue  flowing  into 
their  coffers  from  the  land  which  was  their  birthright?  a 
people  who,  having  made  a  little  reservation  for  them- 
selves by  compact,  are  now  told,  in  answer  to  their  just  and 
reasonable  demand,  that  this  compact  is  only  conditional, 
depending  for  its  fulfilment  on  the  will  and  pleasure  of  the 
Indians?  that  the  primitive  aboriginal  rights  are  such  m»w 
as  they  were  before  the  discovery  of  the  country,  and  that, 
if  Georgia  wants  land,  the  United  States  have  enough  in 


CHAP.  IX.  1  EXECUTIVE  COMMUNICATION.  205 

Florida  or  elsewhere  to  give  her?    How  is  this  insult  and 
mockery  to  be  repelled,  proceeding  as  it  does  from  the  pol- 
luted lips  of  outcasts  and  vagabonds,  who  make  the  Chiefs 
the  instruments  of  reiterating  it  at  Washington  ?     No,  sir ; 
this  trick  of  vulgar  cunning  is  only  to  be  met  by  the  firm- 
ness and  dignity  which  become  the  United  States  govern- 
ment, which  it  has  never  failed  to  manifest  on  every  occa- 
sion calling  for  it,  and  which  he,  who  is  the  special  deposi- 
tary of  all  these  sacred  qualities,  has  always  displayed  to  so 
much  advantage  to  his  high  office  and  to  the  country.     The 
Indians  must  be  made  to  understand  that  no  talks  will  be 
listened  to  but  such  as  proceed  from  councils  strictly  Indian 
in  character  and  composition  ;  that  the  compact  with  Geor- 
gia is  a  very  different  instrument  from  that  which  has  been 
represented  to  them  ;  that  by  it  the  word  of  the  United 
States  is  passed,  and  that  nothing  can  redeem  it  but  the 
cession  of  all  their  lands  within  her  limits  ;  that  the  time 
has  come  when  to  postpone  this  redemption  would  be  essen- 
tially a  breach  of  faith,  of  which  the  United  States  will 
never  permit  herself  to  be  suspected  ;  that,  consulting  the 
comfort  and  happiness  of  the  Indians  alone,   the  United 
States  have  omitted  to  press  this  measure  upon  them  until 
the  very  last  hour  ;  that  the  United  States  have  made  sac- 
rifices for  Indian  interest,  and  will  expect  some  small  ones 
from  the  Indians  in  return;  that,  if  they  desire  civilization, 
nothing  is  more  consistent  with  it  than  concentration  ;  and 
that,  without  regard  to  the  acquisitions  of   territory,  the 
United  States  have  acted  upon  this  principle  from  the  begin- 
ning, as  a  fundamental  one  in  their  system  of  improvement ; 
that  beyond  the  limits  of  Georgia,  and  within  the  territory 
proper  of  the  United  States,  there  are  lands  enough  for  the 
Cherokees  and  all  their  generations  to  come,  of  which  the 
United  States  possess  the  full  and  absolute  dominion,  where 
they  may  sit  down  in  quiet  and  peaceful  enjoyment,  and 
where  none  can  come  to  make  them  afraid  ;  that,  on  the 
other  hand,  if  tired  of  the  arts  of  civilization,  they  will 
betake  themselves  to  their  old  pursuits,  you  have  made  a 
fair  and  liberal  offer  of  wilderness  enough,  abounding  in 
game,  where  the  white  man  will  not  speedily  come  to  trespass 
or  to  annoy  ;  that,  in  presenting  these  honorable  overtures, 
you  are  actuated  by  a  sincere  regard  to  Indian  intecest ; 
that,  in  the  rejection  of  both,  you  can  perceive  nothing  but 
an  unfriendly  spirit ;  and  that,  finally,  if  they  persevere  in 
this  rejection,  the  consequences  are  inevitable  :  1st,  that  you 
must  assist  the  Georgians  in  occupying  the  country  which 
is  their  own,  and  which  is  unjustly  withheld  from  them  ; 


206  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

or,  2ndly,  in  resisting  the  occupation,  to  make  war  upon  and 
shed  the  blood  of  your  brothers  and  friends. 

Having  said  so  much,  it  remains  only  to  advert  to  the 
other  topics  contained  in  your  letter  to  the  Indian  delegation, 
and  for  these  a  word  will  suffice  : 

1st.  The  reservation  of  part  of  our  territory  for  the 
settlement  of  the  Indians  ; 

2nd.  Their  incorporation  into  and  amalgamation  with 
our  society. 

As  to  the  first,  the  answer  is,  the  articles  of  agree- 
ment having  made  no  provision  for  such  reservation, 
none  can  be  made  without  the  consent  of  Georgia,  and  that 
Georgia  will  never  give  her  assent  to  any  without  an  equiv- 
alent, (if  she  would,  with  one,)  is  absolutely  certain.  With 
regard  to  the  second  proposition,  the  answer  is,  that  if  such 
a  scheme  were  practicable  at  all,  the  utmost  of  the  rights 
and  privileges  which  public  opinion  would  concede  to  In- 
dians, would  fix  them  in  a  midale  station  between  the  negro 
and  the  white  man,  and  that  as  long  as  they  survived  this 
degradation  without  the  possibility  of  attaining  the  eleva- 
tion of  the  latter,  they  would  gradually  sink  to  the  condi- 
tion of  the  former;  a  point  <>!'  (k-ircucracy  below  which 
they  could  not  fall.  It  is  likely  that  before  they  reached 
this,  their  wretchedness  would  find  relief  in  broken  hearts. 
Most  assuredly,  nothing  will  contribute  so  essentially  to  that 
scanty  share  of  human  nappiness  which  is  left  them,  as  their 
concentration  and  insulation,  where,  having  enough  for  the 
wants  of  agriculture,  they  will,  in  their  seclusion,  afford  no 
pretexts  for  the  intrusions  or  annoyances  of  the  white  man. 

Thus  frankly,  in  compliance  with  the  request  of  the  Presi- 
dent, I  submit  to  him  my  general  views  on  this  interesting 
subject.  Thus  frankly  I  will  deem  it  my  duty  to  submit  thr~ 
to  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  They  are  such,  no  doubt, 
as  have  already  suggested  themselves.  They  seem  to  me 
the  only  ones  which  the  attitude  assumed  by  the  Indians 
will  sutler  us  to  entertain.  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  support 
them  by  matter-of-fact  information  of  official  character. 
To  me  this  is  impossible.  I  can  only  sav,  generally,  that 
among  men  best  informed  on  Cherokee  affairs,  the  minds  of 
a  majority  of  the  nation  arc  well  prepared  to  receive  your 
proposition  for  removal. 

In  conclusion,  I  must  state  not  only  my  hope,  but  my 
conviction,  that  the  President  will  perceive,  in  every  move- 
ment on  our  part  in  relation  to  this  business,  a  sincere 
desire  to  harmoni/.e  with  the  Union;  to  maintain  peace  and 
tranquillity  with  the  Indians,  until  longer  forbearance  will 


CHAP.  IX.]  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE.  207 

cease  to  be  a  virtue  ;  in  fact,  to  lend  ourselves,  as  we  have 
always  done,  heart  and  hand,  to  the  support  of  every  wise 
and  virtuous  administration  of  the  General  Government. 
But  the  President  will,  at  the  same  time,  consider  that 
Georgia  has  a  deep  stake  in  the  prompt  decision  of  the 
present  question.  Of  all  the  old  States,  Georgia  is  the  only 
one  whose  political  organization  is  incomplete ;  her  civil 
polity  is  deranged  ;  her  military  force  cannot  be  reduced 
to  systematic  order  and  subordination ;  the  extent  of  her 
actual  resources  cannot  be  counted  ;  the  great  work  of  in- 
ternal improvement  is  suspended,  and  all  because  Georgia 
is  not  in  the  possession  of  her  vacant  territory ;  a  territory 
waste  and  profitless  to  the  Indians ;  profitless  to  the  United 
States ;  but,  in  the  possession  of  the  rightful  owner,  a  source 
of  strength,  of  revenue,  and  of  union. 

"Whilst  you  present  to  the  President  my  respects,  be 
pleased  to  accept  for  yourself  the  offer  of  my  high  consid- 
eration for  the  part  you  have  taken  in  this  transaction. 

G.  M.  TKOUP. 
Hon.  John  C.  Calhoun, 
Secretary  of  War, 

Washington  City. 

.  [1824.]  On  the  30th  of  March,  the  President  sent  a 
message  to  Congress,  transmitting  "  certain  papers  enu- 
merated in  a  report  from  the  Secretary  of  War,  relating  to 
the  compact  between  the  United  States  and  the  State  of 
Georgia,  entered  into  in  1802,  whereby  the  latter  ceded  to 
the  former  a  portion  of  the  territory  then  within  its  limits, 
on  the  conditions  therein  specified."  Giving  a  synopsis  of 
the  fourth  article  of  the  compact,  the  message  stated  that 
the  papers  would  show  the  measures  adopted  by  the  Exec- 
utive of  the  United  States  in  fulfilment  of  its  conditions, 
from  its  date,  and  particularly  the  negotiations  and  treaties 
with  the  Indian  tribes  for  extinguishing  their  title,  and  the 
sums  paid  for  the  lands  acquired  ;  also  the  posture  of  affairs 
with  the  Cherokees,  "  and  the  inability  of  the  Executive 
to  make  any  further  movement  with  this  tribe,  without  the 
special  sanction  of  Congress."  The  President  further  stated 
his  full  conviction  that  the  best  efforts  of  his  predecessors 
had  been  exerted  "  to  execute  this  compact  in  all  its  parts, 
of  which,  indeed,"  said  he,  "  the  sums  paid  and  the  lands 


208  LEFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  IX. 

acquired  during  their  respective  terms,  in  fulfilment  of  its 
several  stipulations,  are  a  full  proof."    He  further  stated 
that  he  had  been  animated  by  the  same  zeal  since  he  camo 
into  office,  enumerated  some  of  the  means  that  had  been 
lately  used  to  induce  the  Cherokees  to  remove  beyond  the 
Mississippi,  their  refusal    to   cede  any  more  land,   &c. 
"Whilst  his  impression  was  strong   "  that  it  would  promote 
essentially  the  security  and  happiness  of  the  tribes  within 
our  limits,  if  they  could  be  prevailed  on  to  retire  west  and 
north  of  our  States  and  Territories,'  on  lands  to  be  procured 
for  them  by  the  United  States,"  he  said,  "I  have  no  hesi- 
tation, however,  to  declare  it  as  my  opinion  that  the  Indian 
title  was  not  affected  in  the  slightest  circumstance  by  the 
compact  with  Georgia,  and  that  thorn  is  no  obligation  on 
the  United  States  to  remove  the  Indians  by  force.    The  ex- 
press stipulation  of  the  compact,  that  their  title  should  be 
extinguished  at  the  expense  of  the  United  States,  when  it 
may  be  done  peaceably  and  on  reasonable  conditions,  is  a 
full  proof  that  it  was  the  clear  and  distinct  understanding 
of  both  parties  to  it,  that  the  Indians  had  a  right  to  the 
territory,  in  the  disposal  of  which  they  were  to  be  regarded 
as  free   agents.     An   attempt  to  remove  them  by  force, 
would,  in  my  opinion,  be  unjust.     In  the  future  measures 
to  be   adopted  in  regard  to  the  Indians  within  our  limits, 
and,  in  consequence,  within   the   limits  of  any  State,  the 
United  States  have   duties  to  perform  and  a  character  to 
sustain,  to  which  they  ought  not  to  be  indifferent.     At  an 
early  period,  their  improvement  in  the  arts  of  civilized  life 
was  made  an  object  with  the  Government,  and  that  has 
since  been  persevered  in.     This  policy  was  dictated  by 
motives  of  humanity  to  the  aborigines  of  the  country,  and 
under  a  firm  conviction  that  the  right  to  adopt  and  pursue 
it  was  equally  applicable  to  all  the  tribes  within  our  limits." 
He  submitted  the  matter  to  Congress,  to  "  decide  whether 
any  measure  on  the  part  of  Congress  is  called  for  at  the 
present  time,  and  what  such  measure  shall  be,  if  any  is 
deemed  expedient." 
Ihe  report  ot  the  Secretary  of  War  reviewed  the  state 


CHAP.  IX.]  STATISTICAL  EXTRACTS.  209 

of  affairs  with  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees  at  the  date  of  the 
convention  with  Georgia,  in  1802,  and  the  subsequent 
measures  taken  to  obtain  cessions  of  land,  and  the  supposed 
grounds  of  failure  in  many  instances.  The  following  sta- 
tistical extracts  will  be  interesting : 

"  At  the  date  of  the  convention,  the  Indians  owned,  with- 
in the  limits  of  Georgia,  25,980,000  acres,  of  which  19,578,- 
890  acres  belonged  to  the  Creeks,  and  7,152,110  acres  to 
the  Cherokees,  which  tribes  owned,  besides,  a  considerable 
extent  of  country  in  the  .States  of  Alabama,  Tennessee  and 
North  Carolina.  Between  both  of  those  tribes  and  the 
United  States  there  were  subsisting  treaties,  at  the  time  of 
the  date  of  the  convention,  which,  among  other  things, 
fixed  the  limits  of  their  respective  territories,  and  guaran- 
tied to  them  the  lands  within  those  limits.  [See  1st  vol. 
U.  S.  Laws — Treaty  with  the  Creek  Indians,  p.  361,  art.  5. 
Treaty  with  the  Creeks,  ratified  7th  August,  1790.  Same, 
page  327,  Treaty  of  Holston,  1791,  art.  7.  Same,  page  332, 
Treaty  of  1798,  near  Tellico,  articles  1  and  2.]  In  fulfilment 
of  the  stipulation  of  the  4th  article  with  Georgia,  there  have 
been  held  seven  treaties  with  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees  ;  of 
which  five  were  with  the  former ;  two  of  which  were  previous 
to  the  late  war  with  Great  Britain,  in  1812,  and  three  since. 
By  the  two  preceding  the  declaration  of  war,there  were  ced- 
ed to  Georgia  2,713,890  acres,  and,  by  the  three  latter,  12,034, 
800  acres,  making  together  14,748,690  acres.  With  the  Che- 
rokees there  have  been  held  two  treaties,  both  since  the  late 
war,  by  which  Georgia  has  acquired  995,310  acres,  which, 
added  to  that  acquired  by  treaties  with  the  Creek  nation, 
make  15,744,000  acres  that  have  been  ceded  to  Georgia 
since  the  date  of  the  convention,  in  fulfilment  of  its  stipu- 
lations. In  acquiring  these  cessions  for  the  State  of  Georgia, 
the  United  States  have  expended  $958,954.90  ;  to  which 
should  be  added  the  value  of  995,310  acres,  which  were 
given  in  exchange  with  the  Cherokees,  on  the  Arkansas 
river,  for  a  similar  quantity  ceded  by  the  Cherokees  to 
Georgia,  by  the  treaties  of  1817  and  1819,  which  lands, 
estimated  at  the  minimum  price  of  the  public  lands,  would 
make  $1,244,137.50.  If  to  these  we  add  the  sum  of  $1,250,-- 
000  paid  to  Georgia  under  the  convention,  and  $4,282,151,- 
12  1-2  paid  to  the  Yazoo  claimants,  it  will  be  found  that 
the  United  States  have  already  paid,  under  the  convention, 
$7,735,243,52  1-2,  which  does  not  include  any  portion  of 
the  expense  of  the  Creek  war,  by  which  upwards  af  seven 
millions  of  acres  were  acquired  to  the  State  of  Georgia." 
27 


210  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROIT.  [Crur.  IX. 

The  following  is  the  conclusion  of  the  report: 
"In  performing  the  high  duties  of  humanity  to  the 
wretched  aborigines  of  our  country,  it  has  never  been  con- 
ceived that  the  stipulation  of  the  convention  with  (4  corgi  a, 
to  extinguish  the  Indian  title  within  her  limits,  was  contra- 
vened. The  government  has  been  actuated  solely  by  a 
desire  to  perform  the  obligation  which  considerations  of 
humanity  imposed  on  iis,  in  relation  to  these  unfortunate 
people.  Their  situation,  at  best,  is  wretched,  and  can  only 
be  rendered  tolerable  by  the  perpetual  exercise  of  that 
humanity,  kindness  and  justice  which  has  ever  character- 
ized the  acts  of  the  government  towards  them." 

The  foregoing  extracts  and  synopsis  may  suffice  to  ex- 
plain some  portions  of  the  previous  letter  of  Gov.  Troup  to 
the  Secretary  of  War,  and  as  an  introduction  to  that  which 
follows  : 

Kvi:«  ruvi;  I  )I:PAI:  T.MI.NT.  <ia.,  \ 

-M.  / 


M  ''/,.  i'!//, 

Sir:  —  I  cannot  refrain  from  the  expres>i«'ii  of  my  sur- 
prise at  the  late  communication  which  the  President  lias 
thought  proper  to  make  to  Congress,  on  the  subject  of  the 
claims  of  Georgia  against  the  United  States,  under  the 
articles  of  agreement  and  cession  of  the  year  1802. 

Assuming,  as  it  does,  principles  which  I  controvert  ;  as- 
serting facts  which  I  cannot  permit  myself  to  admit,  it 
becomes  my  duty  in  the  recess  of  the  Legislature  of  Geor- 
gia. to  enter  my  protest  in  behalf  of  the  people  of  this 
State  against  them,  in  the  same  manner  a-  I  believe  they 
would  themselves  do,  if  they  had  an  opportunity  of  speak- 
ing by  their  immediate  Representatives.  The  avowal  of 
these  principles,  the  assertion  of  these  facts,  involves  the 
destruction  of  the  compact  between  Georgia  and  the  I'nited 
States,  makes  it  null  and  void,  and  leaves  no  alternative  to 
Georgia  but  acquiescence  or  resist  an  < 

If  nullified  by  the  act  of  one  party,  the  other  party  is 
absolved,  and  both  are  free  to  declare  the  resumption  of 
their  original  rights.  Will  this  cancelmcnt  make  for 
Georgia  or  the  United  States?  Give  us  back  our  lands; 
we  give  you  back  your  money;  and,  without  making  war 
upon  the  States  of  Alabama  and  Mi-^si-r-ippi,  we  will  run 
the  risk  of  concluding  with  them  the  best  bargain  we  can. 
It  would  be  a  better  bargain  for  Georgia,  than  that  tin-  ex- 
ecution of  which  we  urge  upon  the  General  Government. 
But,  before  this,  we  will  have  to  ask  a  little  money  of  you. 


CHAP.  IX.]    LETTER  TO  THE  SECRETARY  OF  WAR.        211 

Refund  to  Georgia  the  five  millions  which  you  gratuitously 
presented  to  certain  persons,  the  price  of  the  pacification  of 
New  England,  and  which  you  paid  from  the  proceeds  of 
our  lands.  And  is  it  come  to  this  ?  Is  it  discovered  at  last 
that  Georgia  has  no  claims  either  upon  the  United  States, 
or  upon  the  Indians,  under  the  compact  of  1802  ?  That  it 
is  all  a  dream,  a  vision,  a  phantasma,  with  which  the  de- 
luded people  of  Georgia  have  been  plaguing  themselves  for 
twenty  years  !  And  I  pray  you  of  what  other  construction 
is  the  Message  to  Congress  susceptible  ?  Are  not  the  In- 
dians there  treated  as  allodial  proprietors?  As  an  inde- 
pendent people,  having  plenum  et  absolution  dominium, 
and  seized  per  my  etper  tout ;  and  that  therefore  Georgia 
can  take  nothing  but  at  their  will  and  pleasure  ? 

The  United  States  have  promised,  in  the  compact,  to  ex- 
tinguish for  Georgia  the  Indian  claims  to  the  lands  reserved, 
as  soon  as  it  could  be  done  peaceably  and  on  reasonable 
terms.  The  President,  in  his  message,  construes  this  into  a 
stipulation,  to  do  in  this  respect  whatever  it  might  please 
the  Indians  at  any  time  to  do.  Of  what  value  was  such  a 
stipulation  to  Georgia  ?  She  could  take  nothing  by  it 
which  she  had  not  without  it.  Georgia  might,  according 
to  the  President,  entreat  the  United  States  to  ask  the  favor 
of  the  Indians,  to  sell  peaceably  and  on  reasonable  terms, 
and  if  the  Indians  pleased  to  answer  No  !  Never !  the  just 
claims  of  Georgia  were  satisfied  now  and  forever.  Was 
ever  such  a  stipulation  heard  of  before,  either  in  compact 
between  government  and  government,  or  in  contract  be- 
tween man  and  man  ?  Georgia  has  not  required  the  United 
States  to  invade  Indian  rights,  to  satisfy  her  claims.  She 
has  only  asked  of  the  United  States  to  do  for  her  what  she 
has  done  for  herself;  acquire  Indian  lands  whensoever  and 
wheresoever  she  wanted  them  ;  employ  the  same  means  for 
us  in  the  fulfilment  of  Treaty  obligation,  which  you  habit- 
ually employ  for  yourselves  without  any  such  obligation. 
In  short,  do  as  you  did  in  the  case  of  the  Florida  Treaty 
and  others.  When  the  President  says  he  and  his  predeces- 
sors have  invariably  done  so,  may  he  not  have  forgotten 
the  Treaty  of  1814,  when  a  commanding  word  to  General 
Jackson  would  have  procured  for  us  the  Creek  lands  with- 
in our  limits,  on  at  least  as  good  terms  as  it  did  procure 
other  lands  for  the  United  States  beyond  them?  I  appeal 
to  the  records  of  your  office,  sir,  as  the  voucher  of  the  fact, 
that  when  that  treaty  was  negotiated,  the  obligations  of  the 
United  States  were  no  more  remembered  than  if  the  com' 
pact  of  1802  had  never  existed.  Make  an  estimate  from 


212  I<IFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROrr.  [CHAP.  IX. 

the  same  records  of  what  you,  since  1802,  have  acquired 
for  yourselves,  and  compare  it  with  what,  under  the  pledges 
of  the  agreement,  you  have  acquired  for  Georgia.  The 
difference  will  be  about  as  one  hundred  to  an  unit.  And 
yet  it  is  asserted  that  the  United  States  have  sought  every 
opportunity  to  fulfil  the  stipulations  »i  the  compact.  And 
may  I  ask 'the  favor  of  you,  sir,  to  put  your  linger  on  that 
particular  part  of  them,  where  it  is  shown  that  a  proposi- 
tion to  extinguish  claims  in  your  behalf,  has  been  answered 
by  the  potent  monosyllable  No!  and  that  yon  have  been 
content?  The  history  of  the  Plymouth  Colony  and  of 
William Penn  might  have  been  illustrated  by  the  patii 
with  which  such  an  answer  had  been  borne.  The  I'nited 
States  have  never  pretended,  until  now,  that  it  would  be 
borne  at  all.  Now  we  turn  over  a  new  leaf — the  principle, 
of  the  old  treaty  of  Philadelphia,  the  </>"'</  />/•<>  i/»f>  principle, 
must  govern  all  treaties  and  satisfy  all  consciences.  Would 
it  had  been  so  from  the  beginning.  I  confess  to  you.  sir, 
I  do  not  like  this  kind  of  half  hoiu-ty.  If  the  principle  of 
Penn's  Treaty  was  right,  that  of  every  other  which  followed, 
was  wrong,  and  lie  who  has  done  wrong  is  in  point  of  c<>n- 
science  bound  to  get  back  to  right.  To  undo  promptly  and 
directly  what  you  have  unrighteously  done,  is  a  dictate,  I 
think,  of  the  Platonic  and  Socratic  school;  undoubtedly 
that  of  a  much  higher,  the  Christian. 

Begin,  therefore,  with  Georgia,  if  you  please,  to  unsettle 
all  that  has  been  settled  ;  but  let  not  Georgia  be  the  tirst- 
and  the  last.  Say,  in  a  spirit  of  repentance,  that  what  wo 
have  taken  unlawfully  we  will  restore;  that  the  edict  of 
Pope  Alexander,  of  pious  memory,  shall  pa-s  for  nothing  ; 
the  proclamations  and  charters  of  divers  Kings  of  England 
for  nothing;  priority  of  occupation,  priority  of  civilization, 
priority  of  Christianity,  all  nothing  ;  Spanish  precedent, 
which,  by  the  law  of  force,  took  everything  and  gave  in 
return  stripes  and  blows,  of  course  for  nothing  ;  and,  be- 
seeching the  forgiveness  of  sins,  return  to  the  principles 
and  practices  of  William  Penn. 

But  then  is  not  atonement  still  due  to  the  Aboriginal '. 
How  (if  you  take  the  rule  of  the  message,  for  your  guide,) 
can  you  repair  the  wrongs  of  all  kinds  dVme  him  since  the 
landing  on  the  rock  of  Plymouth  (  Your  whole  substance 
would  not  compensate  them  by  one  half,  lint,  sir,  not 
even  the  Puritans  and  the  Quakers  will  consent  to  give  up 
now,  and,  if  things  are  to  remain  as  we  find  them,  why  is 
Georgia  to  be  selected  as  a  propitiary  offering?  It  is  a  fact 
unquestionable,  that  for  fifteen  or  twenty  years  past,  well 


CHAF.  IX.]         LETTER  TO  THE  SECRETARY  OF  WAR.  213 

knowing  your  obligations  to  Georgia  under  the  compact, 
you  have  encouraged  the  Cherokees  to  make  progress  in 
ail  the  arts  of  civilized  life  of  first  necessity  and  comfort, 
within  the  acknowledged  limits  of  Georgia.  They  have 
been  rearing  flocks  and  herds,  constructing  comfortable 
buildings,  making  agricultural  improvements  of  various 
kinds,  organizing  a  government  adapted  to  the  grade  of 
civilization  they  had  reached,  with  schools  and  religious 
establishments  appurtenant,  &c.,  &c.  And  yon  encour- 
aged the  beginning  and  progress  of  these  things,  with  certain 
foreknowledge  they  could  by  no  possibility  endure.  They 
have  been  taught  by  the  United  States  to  value  them  as 
they  ought ;  if  they  had  not  been  taught  altogether  at  our 
expense,  and  without  our  consent,  we  would  have  had  no 
objection.  But  this  has  been  the  sole  cause  of  the  unwil- 
lingness of  any  part  of  the  Cherokees  to  move.  The  United 
States,  therefore,  create  the  cause — the  Cherokees  avail 
themselves  of  it,  to  turn  their  backs  upon  your  propositions 
for  negotiation,  and  you  have  no  means  of  escaping  the 
difficulty,  but  by  asserting  for  the  Cherokees  rights  which 
they  have  not,  and  denying  rights  to  Georgia  which  you 
ought  to  know  she  has. 

I  do  most  earnestly  wish,  sir,  that  this  subject  could  be 
disposed  of  forever.  It  never  recurs  but  the  heart  sickens 
at  the  recollection  of  the  crimes  connected  with  it.  And 
are  the  wrongs  of  Georgia  never  to  have  an  end  ?  When 
the  proclamation  of  '0-i*  gave  to  Georgia  the  country  be- 
tween the  Atlantic  and  the  Mississippi,  it  was  thought  we 
took  something  by  it.  It  was  not  believed  it  gave  us  what 
we  and  all  mankind  had  before,  the  right  to  ask  the  Indians 
to  sell  lands  in  fair  market.  We  not  only  thought  differ- 
ently, but  acted  differently.  We  knew  that  the  whole 
country  was  ours  in  virtue  of  the  very  best  kind  of  title 
then  recognized  by  civilized  Europe,  and,  paying  proper 
respect  to  the  occupation  of  Indians,  we  exercised  all  the 
rights  of  sovereigns  and  masters,  until  Mr.  Adams  con- 
ceived a  notion  that  part  of  the  country  belonged  to  him. 
So  he  said  to  us :  That  part  which  you  occupy  you  may 
keep — the  rest  I  will  take  to  myself.  Accordingly  he  sat 
down  with  his  army  on  the  banks  of  the  Mississippi,  and 
erected  a  Territorial  Government ;  Georgia  was  in  no  con- 
dition to  resist.  She  began  therefore  to  supplicate ;  from 
supplication  she  passed,  by  an  effort  of  great  courage,  to 

*  The  royal  commission  to  GOT.  Wright,  in  1764,  is  probably  hero  meant,  and  not  the 
proclamation  of  1763. — ED. 


014  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

remonstrance,  and  thence  suddenly  into  the  articles  of 
agreement  and  cession,  where  we  still  find  her.  But,  in  the 
:i  time,  what  had  happened?  I  blush  to  think  of  it. 
The  evils  of  that  sore  and  nameless  iniquity  are  felt  at  this 
hour  in  all  the  ramifications  of  society.  The  instigators  and 
plotters  of  it  you  paid  handsomely.  How,  1  will  not  say  ; 
the  seciet  is  yet  to  be  revealed.  The  purity  of  the  1'ivsi- 
dent  has  no  doubt  kept  him  a  stranger  to  it,  t«>  this  moment. 
But,  after  all,  having  proceeded  in  a  course  of  piece-meal 
execution  of  the  Articles  for  twenty  year-,  why  do  you  Mop 
short,  and  say  to  us — all  this  has  been  gratuitous;  we 
owed  you  nothing,  and  we  have  pai<l  you  a  great  deal ; 
your  restlessness  and  inquietude  and  importunities;  our 
hara<sments  and  perplexities  and  expenses,  have  all  been 
the  results  of  false  conceits  and  hallucinations,  and  they 
must  have  an  end.  Accordingly,  it  is  recommended  to  end 
them,  by  proposing  a  removal  of  the  Indians,  with  their 
consent;  not  because  "the  United  States  arc  bound  by  the 
compact  to  take  this,  or  any  other  meaMire,  to  place  Georgia 
at  once  in  possession  of  her  territory  ;  but  because  of  con- 
siderations confined  exclusively  to  the  ,we!  fare  and  pros- 
perity of  the  Indians.  I  am,  notwithstanding,  gratified 
that  the  President  and  myself,  differing  unfortunately  on 
other  points,  should  concur  in  this  as  a  measure  indispen- 
sable to  the  improvement  of  the  condition  of  the  Indians, 
and  necessary  to  secure  their  permanent  peace  ami  happi- 
ness. But  why  this  could  not  have  been  accomplished- 
without  the  intervention  of  Congress,  I  cannot  easily  con- 
ceive. A  treaty  for  the  exchange  of  lands  would  seem  to 
me  to  be  as  obviously  within  the  compass  of  Executive 
powers,  as  a  treaty  for  they"//v//^.sr  of  lands,  or  any  other 
object.  If  the  instrument  of  persuasion  is  the  only  admis- 
sible one  for  the  attainment  of  the  end,  I  do  not  know  how 
Congress  can,  by  any  act  of  theirs,  make  that  which  is 
already  in  the  hands  of  the  President,  more  efficient  for 
your  own  purposes.  Delay  is  certain  to  follow,"and,  an 
as  we  are  to  know  our  fate,  it  is  delay  we  deprecate. 

The  first  detachment  from  the  body  of  the  (Jherokees, 
moved  across  the  Mississippi,  on  the  naked  promise  or  siig- 

festionof  Mr.  Jefferson ;  a  majority  of  the  Cherokees  would 
o  so  now. 

One  more  instance,  if  you  please,  of  the  unkind  and  un- 
friendly treatment  recently  received  at  the  hands  of  the 
United  States.  The  President,  in  the  course  of  the  present 
session,  has  considered  it  his  duty  to  recommend  to  Con- 
gress to  make  provision  for  the  claims  of  the  Massachusetts 


CSAP.  IS.]         LETTER  TO  THE  SECRETARY  OF  WAR.  215 

militia ;  claims  which  Congress  had  hitherto  refused  to 
recognize,  because,  with  very  few  exceptions,  that  militia, 
(in  the  late  war  with  England,  flagrante  fiello,}  were  arrayed 
against  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  Federal  Govern- 
ment. 

Georgia,  too,  has  militia  claims  against  the  Federal  Gov- 
ernment, of  some  20  or  30  years  standing,  which  have  been 
constantly  urged  upon  the  justice  of  Congress.  I  remem- 
ber to  have  introduced  them  before  the  Senate,  and,  so 
unexceptionable  were  they  deemed  by  that  enlightened 
body,  their  validity  was  sanctioned  without  a  dissenting 
voice.  They  would  have  passed  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives, also  ;  but,  on  their  way,  they  fell  into  bad  company  ; 
they  fell  in  with  the  Massachusetts  claims,  then  most 
obnoxious,  and  shared  their  fate.  They  were  claims  for 
services  faithfully  and  patriotically  rendered  in  defence  of 
our  frontier  against  the  Indians.  They  amount  to  $120,000, 
at  least.  When  we  press  the  United  States  for  payment, 
the  answer  is :  These  claims,  and  all  other  claims  of 
Georgia,  were  merged  in  the  articles  of  agreement  and  ces- 
sion ;  and,  when  we  go  to  look  for  the  article  in  which  this 
supposed  mersion  is  to  be  found,  we  will  as  readily  find  it 
in  that  very  important  one  which  gives  to  us  the  right  to  ask 
the  lands  of  the  Indians,  and  to  the  Indians  the  correspond- 
ing right  to  answer  no !  as  in  any  other. 

I  will  trouble  you  no  further  on  this  unpleasant  subject. 
The  causes  which  lead  me  to  the  expositions  and  references 
contained  in  this  paper,  are  not  of  my  seeking.  I  would 
willingly  have  avoided  them.  The  absolute  denial  of  our 
rights,  as  we  understand,  and  have  long  understood  them, 
at  the  moment  when  we  believed  they  would  have  been 
most  respected,  is  a  subject  of  mortification  and  regret. 
So  far  as  I  participate  these  feelings  with  my  countrymen, 
I  assure  you,  sir,  they  are  not  the  offspring  of  this  day  or 
this  hour.  Smarting  under  a  sense  of  our  wrongs,  within 
the  first  hour  I  set  my  foot  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate 
Chamber,  I  had  occasion  to  expose  the  wrongs  of  Georgia, 
and  to  apprise  the  Senators  that  I  would  never  vote  for  an 
Indian  treaty,  until  the  claims  of  Georgia  were  satisfied. 
My  convictions  and  my  feelings  remain  the  same  to  this 
day.  Nevertheless,  my  sentiments  towards  the  President 
are  unchanged.  Who  can  be  exempt  from  error,  amidst  the 
cares  and  troubles  of  such  an  office  ?  What  heart  so  cal- 
lous as  not  to  pardon  injuries  inflicted  by  it?  We  forgive, 
but  our  rights  are  still  our  rights.  At  what  time  and  in 


216  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CiiAr.  IX. 

•what  manner  they  will  be  asserted,  must  depend  upon  the 
representatives  of  the  people. 

Kespectfully,  G.   M.  TRon*. 

The  Hon.  J.  0.  Calhoun, 

Secretary  of  War,  Washington. 

The  Georgia  delegation  *  in  Congress  were  not  inatten- 
tive   to   passing   events.      On   the   10th   of  March,    they 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  President,  from  which  we  extract 
the  following : 
To  the  President  of  the  United  States : 

The  Secretary  of  War  has  addressed  to  the  gentlemen 
composing  the  Georgia  delegation  to  Congress,  copies  of 
the  extraordinary  documents  furnished  liy  persons  who  are 
called  the  Cherokee  delegation.  As  this  is  believed  to  lie 
the  first  instance  in  which  a  diplomatic  correspondence  lias 
been  held  with  Indian  Chiefs,  and  in  which  they  have  bci-n 
addressed  by  the  Department  of  War,  in  the  same  1 
with  those  used  to  the  representation  of  a  $/<>'•  ,  it  'becomes 
a  subject  of  inquiry  in  what  light  the  Cherokecs  are  at  pre- 
sent viewed  by  the  government  of  the  United  States.  If, 
as  an  independent  nation,  to  be  treated  with  all  the  forms 
of  diplomatic  respect,  the  negotiation  with  them  should  bo 
transferred  to  the  Department  of  State,  and  will,  no  doubt, 
be  preceded  by  a  proper  examination  into  their  authority  to 
speak  for  the  Cherokee  tribe,  on  matters  affecting  its  pros- 
perity and  existence.  If  to  be  viewed  as  otlx  r  Indians  /  as 
persons  suffered  to  reside  within  the  territorial  limits  of  the 
united  States,  and  subject  to  every  restraint  which  the 
policy  and  power  of  the  general  government  require  to  be 
imposed  on  them,  for  the  interest  of  the  Union,  the  interest  of 
a  particular  State,  and  their  own  preservation,  it  is  necessary 
that  these  misguided  men  should  be  taught  by  the  Gen- 
eral Government  that  there  is  no  alternative  between  their 
removal  beyond  the  limits  of  the  State  of  Georgia  and  their 
extinction.  The  government  of  the  United  States  will  de- 
ceive them  grossly,  if  they  are  led  to  believe  that,  at  this 
day,  their  consent  is  necessary  to  the  fulfilment  of  'its  obli- 
gations to  the  State  of  Georgia.  Their  will  must  yield  to 
the  paramount  duties  of  the  general  government,  to  itself 
and  to  each  member  of  the  confederacy.  The  Cherokees 
allege^ (if,  indeed,  the  representation  is  made  with  their 
authority,)  that  they  are  resolved  neither  to  leave  nor  sell 

*  Col.  Tattnall  was  absent  from  Indisposition. 


CHAP.  IX.]      REMONSTRANCE  OF  GEORGIA  DELEGATION.  217 

the  lands  on  which  they  reside — lands  which  belong  to  the 
State  of  Georgia;  over  which  Georgia  did  claim  sover- 
eignty until  the  adoption  of  the  federal  Constitution,  and 
over  which  she  will  exercise  her  powers  whenever  any  ad- 
ministration of  the  general  government  resolves  to  fix  per- 
manently upon  them  any  persons  who  are  not,  and  whom 
she  will  never  suffer  to  become  her  citizens.  The  doctrines 
of  the  general  government,  sanctioned  by  the  highest  tri- 
bunals, vindicate  the  claim  of  Georgia  to  the  ownership  of 
the  soil.  The  Indians  are  simply  occupants — tenants  at  will 
— incapable  of  transferring  even  their  naked  possession, 
except  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  United  States,  to 
the  State  of  Georgia.  Aware  of  the  tenure  by  which  their 
temporary  possession  is  held,  their  head  men  have  sought,  in 
many  instances,  to  secure  from  the  United  States  a  title  to 
the  soil  itself.  Stipulations  have  been  entered  into  by  the 
general  government,  equally  contradictory  to  the  rights  of 
Georgia  and  the  obligations  of  the  United  States ;  stipu- 
lations, however,  which  show  that  the  general  government 
have  the  acknowledged  right  to  transfer  the  possession  of 
the  Cherokee  lands  to  the  State  of  Georgia.  The  power 
which  takes  from  the  Cherokee  tribe  a  portion  of  soil  to 
confer  it  on  a  Cherokee  chief,  under  a  different  tenure,  can 
rightfully  take  from  the  Cherokee  nation  for  the  benefit  of 
a  State. 

It  is  with  deep  concern  that  the  necessity  is  felt,  of  press- 
ing upon  the  general  government  the  considerations  that 
are  due  to  its  character  for  good  faith  in  its  contracts  with 
a  member  of  the  Union.  Since  the  year  1802,  implicit  re- 
liance has  been  placed  in  the  general  government ;  and  the 
just  expectation  has  been  indulged,  that,  in  the  execution 
of  its  high  duties,  the  executive  administration  would  care- 
fully and  steadily  pursue  the  object  for  which  the  faith  of 
the  Union  was  pledged — the  peaceable  extinguishment,  on 
reasonable  terms,  of  the  Indian  title  to  all  the  lands  Avithin 
the  territorial  limits  of  Georgia.  In  1817,  the  public  decla- 
ration of  the  President  to  Congress,  that  an  arrangement 
had  been  made,  by  which,  in  exchange  for  lands  beyond 
the  Mississippi,  a  great  part,  if  not  the  whole,  of  the  lands 
possessed  by  the  Cherokee  tribe  eastward  of  that  river,  in 
the  States  of  North  Carolina,  Tennessee  and  Georgia,  and 
in  the  Territory  of  Alabama,  would  be  soon  acquired,  gave 
a  just  expectation  that  the  national  pledge  given  to  Georgia 
would  be  redeemed.  In  the  eight  years  which  have  succeed- 
ed, these  anticipations  of  the  President  have  been  realized 
28 


218  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

everywhere  but  in  Georgia.  The  successive  purchases 
made,  since  that  period,  have  crowded  the  Cherokees  out  of 
Tennessee,  North  Carolina  and  Alabama,  almost  altogether 
into  Georgia;  and  the  terms  upon  which  they  have  been 
made,  have  created  all  the  difficulties  now  encountered 
in  the  peaceful  a  >,  on  /•<  a  .  of  the  land 

upon  which  the  Cherokees  are  now  permitted  to  remain; 
difficulties  which  arc  every  hour  increasing,  from  the  policy 
pursued  by  the  general  government. 

If  the  Cherokees  are  unwilling  to  remove,  the  <• 
that  unwillingness  arc  to  be  traced  to  the   United  State:-. 
If  a  peaceable   purchase  cannot  be  made  in  the  ordinary 
mode,  nothing   remains   t»   be  done  but  to  order  their  re- 
moval  to   a   designated   territory    beyond    the    limit 
Georgia,  and  give  an  ample  equivalent  for  the  territory  left 
by  them,  and  an  ample  support  to  the  tcrritor .  ••!  to 

them.  ATI  order  of  this  kind  will  not  be  disregarded  by 
the  Cherokee  tribe,  whose  interest  will  be  esseniially  pro- 
moted by  a  compliance  with  it,  (whatever  may  be  the 
effect  of  it  upon  a  few  <•''  :<!er 

their  own  interest  as  separate  and  distinct  from  that  of  their 
brethren,)  as  it  must  be  obvious  that  a  tranquil  and  undis- 
turbed possession  of  a  permanent .property  can  alone  enable 
them  to  acquire  the  arts  of  civilixed  life,  and  to  secure  to 
them  its  benefits. 

Our  duty  is  performed  by  r&monstrating  against  the 
policy  heretofore  pursued,  by  which  the  interests  of  Geo 
have  been  disregarded,  to  the  accomplishment  of  other 
objects  of  general  interest ;  and  a  compliance  with  a  solemn 
promise  postponed,  for  the  acquisition  of  territory  for  the 
general  government;  and  by  insisting,  as  we  do  most 
earnestly,  upon  an  immediate  fulfilment  of  the  obligations  of 
the  articles  of  cession,  concluded  in  1  ^<>-2,  as  the  only  means 
by  which  justice  can  be  done  to  the  State  we  represent,  and 
the  character  of  the  general  government  be  vindicated. 


JOEL  ABBOTT, 

•.  CAKY, 
Tir.  W.    COBB, 
A.  CUTHBEBT, 

JOHN  FOK-YTII, 
"WiLKV  TIIOY 

Washington,  10th  March,  18^ Jr. 


-Representatives. 


CHAP.  IX.]  REPORT  OF  SELECT  COMMITTEE.  '219 

Nothing  special  seems  to  have  been  done  in  regard  to 
this  matter,  during  the  then  session  of  Congress,  except  to 
refer  it  in  the  House  to  a  select  committee,  of  which  Mr. 
Forsyth  was  chairman.'-  On  the  14th  of  April  he  made  a 
long  report,  which,  on  his  motion,  was  referred  to  a  Com- 
mittee of  the  Whole  on  the  state  of  the  Union.  In  regard 
to  the  right  of  Georgia  to  sovereignty  and  soil,  the  report 
said : 

"  The  State  of  Georgia  claimed,  on  the  establishment  of 
the  Independence  of  the  United  States,  all  the  lands  now 
forming  the  States  of  Georgia,  Alabama  and  Mississippi, 
with  the  exceptions  of  those  portions  of  the  two  last  States 
which  formed  a  part  of  Florida  and  Louisiana.  This  claim 
was  founded  upon  the  charter  of  incorporation  of  the  pro- 
prietary government ;  on  the  royal  commissions  issued  to 
the  Governors  of  the  State,  after  the  proprietors  had  sur- 
rendered their  charter  to  the  Crown.  The  claim  was 
disputed  by  South  Carolina,  and  by  the  United  States. 
The  conflicting  claims  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  were 
adjusted  by  a  convention  between  them,  in  1787.  The 
United  States  recognized,  by  the  treaty  with  Spain  of  the 
year  1795,  the  claim  of  Georgia,  [Journals  of  old  Congress, 
vol.  13,  pp.  49,  50,]  having  refused,  in  1788,  a  cession  from 
the  State,  on  account  of  the  remoteness  of  the  lands,  and  of 
the  terms  proposed  by  Georgia.  In  April,  1798,  Congress 
passed  a  law  [Laws  of  United  States,  vol.  3,  p.  39,]  in  rela- 
tion to  the  western  part  of  the  territory  of  Georgia,  with  a 
reservation  of  the  rights  of  Georgia  to  the  jurisdiction  and 
soil.  In  May,  1800,  another  act  [Laws  of  United  States, 
vol.  3,  p.  380,]  was  passed,  containing  a  similar  reservation. 
In  December,  1800,  Georgia  remonstrated  against  these 
acts,  as  a  violation  of  her  right  of  sovereignty  and  soil. 
[Reports  of  Con. :  2d  sess.,  6th  Cong.,  p.  87.]  The  compact 
of  1802  put  an  end  to  the  disputes  which  were  likely  to 
arise  out  of  this  collision  between  the  General  and  State 
governments.  By  this  compact,  the  United  States  obtained 
a  surrender  of  the  right  of  Georgia  to  the  sovereignty  and 
soil  of  two  States,  containing,  by  estimate,  eighty-six  mil- 
lions of  acres  of  land,  for  the  paltry  consideration  of  the 
payment  of  $1,250,000,  out  of  the  proceeds  of  that  land, 
and  of  a  promise  to  extinguish  the  Indian  title  to  the  land 
within  the  territorial  limits  not  ceded  to  the  United  States, 
as  soon  as  it  could  be  done  peaceably  and  on  reasonable 

*  Tho  committee  consisted  of  Messrs.  John  Forsyth,  Alfred  Cuthbert  and  Thomas  W. 
Cobb,  of  Georgia,  Georgo  McDuffie,  of  South  Carolina,  and  John  Long,  of  North  Carolina. — ED. 


220 '  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

f<  I- nis.  The  execution  of  this  compact  produced  no  change 
in  the  right  of  Georgia  to  the  Sovereignty  and  soil  of  1 1n- 
land within  her  newly  defined  boundaries.  Its  only  effect 
was  to  throw  upon  the  United  States  the  expense  which 
might  attend  the  extinguishment  of  the  Indian  title,  an 
expense  which,  but  for  this  compact,  must  have  been  borne 
by  the  State.  Nor  did  this  compact,  in  the  slightest  cir- 
cumstance, add  to  the  title  of  the  Indians;  it  recognixed 
the  claim  only  they,  as  Indians,  were  allowed  to  have, 
according  to  the  usages  of  the  States,  and  the  liberal  policy 
adopted  towards  them  by  the  general  government." 

After  an  able  review  of  the  whole  subject,  the  report 
said : 

"  The  committee  do  not,  however,  believe  that  any  serious 
diiliculty  now  exists  to  the  peaceable  extinguishment  of  the 
Indian  title,  on  reasonable  terms.  An  order  from  the  gen- 
eral government,  for  their  removal,  would  be  cheerfully 
acquiesced  in,  if  accompanied  by  the  necessary  preparation 
for  the  prosperity  of  the  tribe,  and  a  just  equivalent  for  the 
temporary  inconveniences  they  might  suffer." 

The  report  concluded  with  recommending  the  following 
resolutions : 

"  Resolved,  That  the  United  States  arc  bound,  by  their 
obligations  to  Georgia,  to  take,  immediately,  the  necessary 
measures  for  the  removal  of  the  Cherokee  Indians  beyond 
the  limits  of  that  State. 

"  Resolved,  That  such  an  arrangement  with  the  State  of 
Georgia  should  be  made,  as  may  lead  to  the  final  adjust- 
ment of  the  claims  of  that  State,  under  the  compact  of  181  >_!, 
with  the  least  possible  inconvenience  to  the  Cherokee  and 
Creek  Indians  within  the  boundary  of  the  State. 

"Resolved,  That  the  sum  of  dollars  should  be 

appropriated  for  the  purposes  expressed  in  the  above 
resolutions." 

[1824]  In  the  U.  S.  Senate,  on  the  IGth  of  April,  a 
communication  was  received,  in  the  form  of  a  memorial, 
from  John  Ross,  George  Lowrey,  lUajor  Uidge  and  Elijah 
Hicks,  "delegates  from  the  Cherokee  nation  of  Indians," 
animadverting  on  the  letter  of  Governor  Troup  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  of  28th  February,  and  the  letter  of  the 
Georgia  delegation  to  the  President,  and  in  which,  speaking 
of  the  emigration  of  the  Cherokees,  they  said,  "  such  an 
event  will  never  take  place" 


CHAP.  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  221 

The  memorial  having  been  read, 

Mr.  Elliott,  of  Georgia,  said  he  objected  to  a  contest  of 
this  character,  in  this  place,  with  the  Cherokee  delegation. 
He  knew  them  only  as  other  Indians,  and  to  be  treated  with 
as  such.  If  they  claim  to  represent  an  independent  nation, 
why  do  they  address  this  body  directly,  and  not  through 
the  Department  of  State  ?  But,  if  they  seek  to  be  heard  in 
their  real  character,  they  should  present  their  claims  to  our 
consideration  through  the  War  Department.  The  course 
now  attempted  is  novel  and  inadmissible,  and  he  hoped  the 
communication  would  lie  on  the  table.  It  was  then  ordered 
to  lie  on  the  table. 

As  no  treaty  was  made  with  the  Cherokees  during  the 
administration  of  Governor  Troup,  and  their  removal  to 
the  West  belongs  to  that  part  of  the  history  of  Georgia 
subsequent  to  his  retirement  from  the  public  councils,  we 
must  here  dismiss  this  subject,  recurring  to  it  only  so  far 
as  it  becomes  connected  with  his  messages  to  the  Legisla- 
ture or  his  official  correspondence.  In  his  first  annual 
message,  the  subject  is  presented  prominently,  and  the 
views  therein  expressed  have,  in  principle,  relation  as  well 
to  the  Creek  as  the  Cherokee  Indians. 

The  running  and  marking  the  dividing  line  between 
Georgia  and  Alabama  having  been  brought  to  the  notice 
of  the  Legislature,  a  resolution  was  adopted,  at  the  session 
of  1823,  for  continuing  the  exertions  which  had  already 
been  commenced  for  that  purpose  ;  and  early  in  the  year 
182-1  Governor  Troup  opened  a  correspondence  with  the 
Governor  of  Alabama  and  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  on  this  subject,  the  result  of  which  will  be  found  in 
his  annual  message. 

The  General  Assembly  met  on  the  1st  of  November ;  on 
the  second,  the  Governor  sent  in  his  first  annual  message,  as 
follows : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  GEORGIA, 

Milledgeville,  2d  Nov.,  1824. 
Fellow- Citizens  of  the  Senate 

and  House  of  Representatives : 

It  is  a  matter  of  gratulation,  that  since  the  last  assembly 


002  LIFti  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  IX. 

of  the  Legislature,  the  United  States  have  continued  in  a 
state  of  peace  with  all  nations,  courting  amicahle  relations 
with  all  by  a  just  and  impartial  system,  and  exhibiting  at 
the  same  time  the  armor  necessary  to  command  respect  to 
our  rights  everywhere.  Connected  with  such  happy  aus- 
pices, the  present  year  has  been  made  memorable  by  the 
landing  of  General,  late*  Marquis,  La  Fayette,  <»n  the  soil 
where  the  first  years  of  his  distinguished  life  were  devoted, 
by  purse  and  sword,  to  defend  all  that  we  held  sac-red  of 
political  and  civil  rights.  It  was  due  to  him  to  be  invited 
by  the  chief  magistrate,  in  the  name  of  the  people  of  the 
State,  to  our  bosoms,  and  it  was  accordingly  done. 

When  it  is  said  the  United  States  have  so  far  caused 
their  rights  to  be  respected  by  all  nations,  it  is  by  no 
means  to  be  understood  that  such  a  state  of  things  can  be 
lasting.  The  wisest  policy — the  most  pacific  dispositions, 
will  not  assure  us  against  a  change.  At  this  moment,  an 
organized  confederacy  of  despots  in  Kurope,  more  formida- 
ble than  ever  known  before,  shake  their  bloody  sceptre  at 
all  nations  who  contend  for  freedom  and  the  rights  of  man. 
The  United  States  and  Great  Britain  present  the  only 
barrier  to  the  destruction  of  liberty,  else  the  spirit  which 
animates  the  Greek,  in  his  glorious  struggle  with  the  Turk, 
would  have  been  extinguished,  South  America  subdued, 
and  our  firesides  assailed.  So  long  as  the  United  States 
and  England  are  leagued  against  them,  these  enemies  of 
the  human  race  dare  not  commit  themselves  to  the 
Meanwhile,  the  progress  of  mind,  always  seeking  liberal 
principles,  will  make  the  cause  of  right  and  justice  stronger 
every  day,  until  this  array  of  tyrants  shall  be  broken  and 
scattered,  and  liberation  from  thraldom  be  complete  and 
universal. 

The  strongest  operative  principle  of  the  American  insti- 
tutions in  diffusing  blessings  of  all  kinds  among  savage  and 
civilized  men,  is  the  principle  of  universal  toleration,  re- 
ligious and  political.  This  principle,  having  its  foundation 
in  the  American  constitutions  of  government,  is  dispensing 
its  beneficent  influences  everywhere,  to  the  uttermost  ends 
of  the  earth  ;  and,  in  perfect  accord  and  harmony  with  the 
precepts  of  the  gospel,  it  will  make  that  gospel  more  and 
more  active  in  the  reclamation  of  human  nature  in  regions 

*    This  i.s  ron.-istiMit  with  tin;  u^iial  accuracy  "f  <>"V.  Trouj).     It  may  n"!  I"'  :;<'ii'T:illy 
remembered,    that  when,    at    the  period  uf  her  Involution.  Ki.->.  t  i;e|,u]>liean 

government,  La  Fayotto,  in  1790,  took  the  onth  of  fidelity  to  the  constitution,  ]\-.<\  in 
months  before  he  took  the  oath,  renounced  liU  hereditary  title,  which  ho  never  afterwards 
resumed. — ED. 


CHAP.  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  223 

where  the  rose  never  blossomed,  and  where  the  savage 
continues  to  hunt  his  fellow-man  as  the  beast  of  the  forest. 
In  fact,  for  the  spreading  of  the  benign  doctrines  of  Christi- 
anity among  the  idolater  and  heathen,  there  is  reason 
to  believe  that  an  All-foreseeing  Providence  has  made  this 
great,  and,  I  hope,  unambitious  nation,  its  chief  instru- 
ment. If  the  millennium  is  to  come,  American  institu- 
tions, under  the  same  direction,  will  bring  it  to  pass. 
Then,  for  the  first  time,  comes  the  epoch  of  universal  peace. 
Before  that,  it  is  our  business  and  our  duty  to  be  prepared 
for  war.  ~No  sovereign  State,  whatever  be  its  relation  to 
others,  should  suffer  itself  to  be  wronged  or  insulted.  The 
weaker,  the  more  strenuously  it  should  insist  on  its  rights, 
the  more  vigorously  defend  them.  The  .Romans  never 
counted  the  number  of  their  enemies,  and  it  is  better  that 
all  perish  than  that  one  tittle  of  honor  be  surrendered. 
Maintaining,  however,  with  reason,  justice  and  firmness, 
those  rights  which  belong  to  us,  we  ought  to  make  it  our 
care  scrupulously  to  respect  the  rights  of  others. 

I  call  your  attention,  therefore,  to  the  state  of  our  Militia 
— under  a  good  system,  a  bulwark — under  a  bad  one,  a 
rope  of  sand.  It  is  recommended  to  you,  most  earnestly, 
to  revise  your  system.  Pains  have  been  taken  to  give  it 
all  the  efficacy  of  which  it  was  susceptible.  Wanting  an 
energetic  principle  to  enforce  itself,  it  would  not  have  been 
made  available  for  even  a  temporary  organization,  but  for 
the  virtue  and  patriotism  of  our  citizens.  These  virtues,  in 
some  degree,  supplied  the  defects  of  the  law,  and  will  en- 
able me  to  make  a  tolerably  satisfactory  estimate  of  the 
military  power  of  the  State.  I  cannot,  in  a  message  like 
this,  enter  into  detail ;  but  you  have  accompanying  docu- 
ments which  will  suffice  to  show  partially  the  defects  and  the 
remedies.  But  suffer  me  to  entreat,  that  in  this  revision 
you  look  to  a  military  system  purely  abstracted  from,  and 
having  no  connection  with,  the  civil  polity.  The  citizen  is 
a  different  being  from,  the  soldier.  Carry  the  civil  law  in- 
to the  camp,  the  latter  becomes  a  fungus  upon  the  State. 
Instead  of  perfect  subordination  and  discipline,  which  re- 
gard his  own  preservation  and  the  safety  of  the  country, 
he  looks  constantly  to  his  civil  privileges — makes  the  law 
for  his  own  government,  and  decides  when  he  shall  look 
the  enemy  in  the  face — when  betake  himself  to  flight.  In 
no  country  can  such  a  military  system  be  maintained  as  a 
reliance  for  defence.  Even  under  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  when  the  militia  take  the  field,  they  are  subjected 


224  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

to  martial  law.  It  is  the  novelty  of  this  restraint  which  in 
war  gives  rise  to  so  many  difficulties,  and  causes  so  many 
embarrassments  before  the  militia  are  qualified  for  active 
service  ;  and  how  easy  for  the  citizen  to  learn  that,  consult- 
ing his  own  safety  anil  the  safety  of  the  State,  the  moment 
he  takes  his  position  in  the  ranks,  hisfirstduty  and  his  first 
virtue  is  obedience,  ami  how  habitually  easy  in  war  will  be 
the  practice  thus  acquired  in  time  <>f  peace.  It  will  be 
vain  to  attempt  to  discipline  the  militia  in  times  of  peace, 
unless  the  strictest  subordination  and  obedience  can  be  com- 
manded among  all  ranks,  from  the  general  to  the  private. 
The  basis  of  any  good  system  is  organization.  Without 
permanent  organization,  it  need  n..t.  he  attempted  to  uni- 
form, equip,  arm  <>r  discipline.  The  organization  of  the 
company  is  the  basis  of  the  whole,  and  it  is  ascertained  by 
sufficient  experience  that  it  is  extremely  difficult  to  main- 
tain a  complete  organization  of  companies  tinder  the  present 
system.  The  snpineness  and  indifference  of  the  people  who 
elect  the  company  officers  in  a  period  of  peace,  their  care- 
lessness in  attending  elections  at  all,  and  consequently  the 
very  improper  selections  which  are  frequently  made,  have 
had  atendeucy  to  impair  the  value  of  the  commission,  which 
ought  always  to  be  held  honorable.  The  uncertainly  of 
preferment,  too,  which  ought  to  be  the  sure  reward  of  merit, 
deters  young  men  of  good  character  from  seeking  commis- 
sions of  the  lower  grade.  In  iine,  the  numerous  resigna- 
tions constantly  occurring,  and  the  disinclination  frequently 
manifested  for  this  service,  show  the  defect  to  be  radical, 
and  to  require  an  effectual  remedy.  A  uniform  prescribed 
for  the  militia,  cheap  and  equally  useful  in  the  ordinary 
occupations  of  life,  would  have  a  tendency  to  diil'use  more 
generally  that  military  pride  so  essential  to  the  character 
of  the  soldier.  The  time,  it  is  hoped,  will  arrive,  when, 
under  the  wise  provisions  of  the  act  of  Congress  for  this 
purpose,  the  whole  body  of  the  militia  of  the  United  Si 
will  be  supplied  with  arms  and  equipments.  In  this  event, 
it  will  be  desirable  to  establish  in  each  county  a  central 
depot  of  arms,  to  be  used  on  field  days,  and  as  the  public 
service  may  require. 

As  one  of  the  prominent  evils  of  the  existing  system  is 
the  habitual  non-execution  of  the  sanctions  and  penalties 
prescribed  by  the  laws,  you  will  find  it  indispensable,  a- 
well  for  the  enforcement  of  these,  as  for  the  uniform  and 
regular  execution  of  their  general  provisions,  to  provide 
for  the  appointment  of  an  Adjutant-General,  with  adequate 


CHA.P.  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  225 

rank  and  emoluments,  having  his  office  at  the  seat  of  gov- 
ernment ;  and,  if  it  be  thought  proper  to  establish  drill 
schools  for  the  officers  in  central  points  of  divisions  or  bri- 
gades, their  general  superintendence  and  direction  should 
be  confided  to  him  under  the  orders  of  the  Commander-in- 
Chief.  The  reports  of  Major-General  Newnan  and  Brig- 
adier-General Harden,  merit  your  attention. 

Intimately  connected  with  the  defence,  is  the  public 
education  of  the  country.  Every  citizen  to  be  qualified 
efficiently  to  defend  his  rights  and  those  of  his  country, 
should  possess  intelligence  enough  clearly  to  understand 
them  ;  and  this,  in  the  complex  relations  of  our  political 
system,  is  at  once  the  more  necessary  and  the  more  diffi- 
cult. The  rich  and  the  poor  now  unite  in  the  acknowledg- 
ment of  the  advantages  accruing  from  an  enlarged  system 
of  education,  which  will  qualify  them  equally  for  all  the 
occupations,  civil  and  military,  to  which  the  State  may  call 
them.  In  the  front  of  the  higher  academic  institutions  al- 
ready organized,  you  will  take  pleasure  to  recognize  Frank- 
lin College,  an  ornament,  and,  under  proper  endowment,  an 
institution  of  first  utility  to  Georgia.  Next,  the  academies 
of  counties,  only  requiring  a  fostering  hand  to  cause  them 
to  nourish  and  produce  fruits  worthy  of  the  fathers  who 
laid  the  foundations.  I  recommend  to  you  to  give  to  these 
institutions  liberally  and  unsparingly,  according  to  their 
wants.  But,  above  all,  I  recommend  that  to  the  poor  of  our 
fellow-citizens  you  extend  a  bountiful  hand.  A  poor  and 
honest  man  is  the  noblest  work  of  God.  How  much  more 
worthy  your  care  the  children,  who,  under  your  protecting 
auspices,  might  be  the  best  of  men,  under  your  neglect,  the 
worst.  Nothing  is  more  easy  than  to  comprehend  all  under 
the  expanded  wings  spread  over  these  institutions  by  the 
Constitution  and  the  laws,  which  limit  your  discretion  in 
nothing  but  the  duty  always  imposed  upon  you  to  take  care 
that,  of  public  moneys  appropriated  to  any  object,  a  strict 
accountability  be  exacted.  The  rule  of  apportioning,  annu- 
ally, a  specific  sum  among  the  different  counties,  in  propor- 
tion to  representation,  as  adopted  by  an  act  of  the  last 
Legislature,  is  not  only  a  fair  one  but  of  easy  execution. 

[This  paragraph  of  the  message  relates  to  Internal  Im- 
provement, and  has  already  been  copied  into  the  preceding 
chapter.] 

In  calling  your  attention  to  the  Judiciary,  I  am  only  di- 
29 


F  CF.niKiF.  M.  TROCF.  [CHAP.  IX. 

rectin  •  it  to  objects  with  which  it  has  been  familiar.  To 
brini;  justice  as  near  as  pos-ihle  to  the  home  of  every  citi- 
zen, at  the  Icasr  possible  expense,  and  with  the  greatest 
possible  expedition,  are  maxims  of  the  common  law,  sound 
and  salutary.  The  beat  maxims  upon  paper  are  of  but  little 
value,  unless  carried  into  practical  effect  In  Kngland, 
where  they  have  been  long  disregarded,  but  whence  we  de- 
rive our  models,  they  have,  at  this  moment,  the  worst 
system*  of  practical  municipal  jurisprudence  of  any  conn- 
trv  on  earth,  and  this,  chielly,  from  the  neglect  of  those 
very  maxims.  The  delays  and  expenses  of  justice  tire  ruin- 
ous :  so  much  so,  that  the  very  best  part  of  their  system, 
the  Hi--! i  Court  of  ('ham-cry,  has  become  a  nnisince  to  the 
country.  Of  whal  avail  are  the  best  principles  of  juridical 
science  to  any  people,  if  in  practice  they  are  constantly 
abused  (  In  our  system  there  is  quite  enough  of  delay  and 
expense,  and  these  may  be  diminished  by  discarding  some 
silly  maxims  of  ihe  common  law.  l!ut  again,  it  is  to  be 
Considered  that  justice  should  not  only  be  rendered  cheaply, 
expedirionsly  and  conveniently,  it  should  be  rendered  also 
with  uniformity  -that  is,  in  all  like  cases,  there  should  be 
like  deci-ions.  In  the;  practice  under  our  system,  it  is  im- 
p  —  ible  to  assure  this  desirable  result,  from  two  ca: 
1st.  From  a  number  of  Judge-  acting  separately  and 
apart;  2nd.  From  a  want  of  time  to  mature  their  decisions 
in  the  most  important  cases.  It  has,  no  doubt,  fallen  with- 
in the  observation  of  all  of  yon,  that  frequently  the  most 
difficult  and  complex  questions  arise  before  onr  judges,  and 
they  have  no  more,  time  for  the  investigation  of  them  than 
for  the  decision  of  the  most  plain  and  simple  ones.  I  advise 
yon,  therefore,  if,  for  the  sake  of  uniformity,  alway-  80  de- 
sirable in  the  administration  of  justice,  you  deem  it  expedi- 
ent to  organize  a  Court  of  Krroi-s — that  you  so  organi/c  it 
as  not  to  enhance  the  expense  to  suitors.  It  is  before  such 
courts,  as  commonly  organized,  that  this  evil  is  so  sorely 
felt  by  the  citizen.  The  expense  is  increased.  An  argu- 
ment is  admitted  :  and  this  is  the  source  of  the  expense. 
The_  argument  is  good  for  nothing.  The  parties  before  the 
*  in  VH|.  17.  ]i.  ;n.  uf  Qeargfr  Etopoi  :  Minikin 

••tliis  complaint  I*  weU  brought    ii:iil.-r  Jours'    Forms.     Ami  >o    far  t'p.iu  i-onstniing  tin- 
Ac)  rtrifttly,  it  du>old  be  Ubendly  interpreted,  intend  t"  facilitate  th"  noonry 

lin.vide.:  l.y  law  fur  th-  reiln •-<  of  WTOH  i.f  il<  antliur.  tllilt 

:  Aini'i-i- 

can  l.;i-.\    RcAmn,  Inn  '  ;  i':ni -mil  t cil  ii  coi.y  of  II, is  Act  liuine,  iiml  it  now  stamls  npnn   ti 
utcilool;  of  the  llritisli    I'arliaincnt   as  a   law  of  II.. •  Jli-alm."     Tl.  I  toil    that   of 

KIT.  -to    Miiii.lify  Lngg   ut    i..iw,"    ,-,)•    U),i.li    Hon.  JoJui   A.   Junes   i>    tin. 

author.— ED. 


CHAP.  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  227 

court  want  not  the  argument — they  want  the  decision. 
They  will  be  quite  content  with  the  argument  of  the 
judges ;  and  if  the  judges,  selected  for  their  legal  wisdom 
specifically  to  decide  questions  of  law  submitted  by  the 
records  of  the  courts  below,  cannot  decide  correctly  with- 
out a  labored  re-discussion  of  such  questions,  not  by  them- 
selves, but  by  "others  who  ought  not  to  be  their  superiors ; 
such  a  court  will  only  be  an  evil,  by  the  amount  of 
the  unnecessary  expense  thus  incurred.*  Otherwise,  much 
of  good  might  result  from  it ;  more  especially,  if  it  be  made 
the  duty  of  the  court  to  pass  finally  upon  all  questions  at 
the  first  term. 

The  compilation  and  digest  of  the  Statute  Law  of  Eng- 
land in  force  in  this  country,  has  been  confided,  according 
to  your  direction,  to  William  Schley,  Esq.  And  Charles 
Harris,  Thomas  U.  P.  Charlton  and  William  Davies,  Esqrs., 
gentlemen  of  distinguished  eminence  at  the  bar,  have  been 
appointed  with  supervisory  powers  to  advise,  from  time  to 
time,  alterations  or  amendments  as  the  work  progressed  ; 
so  that,  whilst  by  this  concert  and  co-operation  it  will  be 
rendered  more  perfect  and  complete,  its  final  adoption  as 
part  of  the  code  of  this  State  will  also  be  rendered  more 
certain.  In  connection  with  this  important  subject,  may  I 
be  permitted  to  suggest  a  like  revision  and  digest  of  its 
companion,  the  common  law  ? — or,  returning  to  the  dark 
ages  what  belongs  to  them,  would  it  not  be  worthy  of  the 
generation  in  which  we  live,  if  Georgia,  by  embodying  the 
best  parts  of  the  common  and  statutory  law  of  England,  the 
Roman  civil  law,  and  the  Napoleon  code,  (the  last  by  far 
the  b'est  system  extant,)  were  to  supply  for  herself  a  code 
of  Jurisprudential  Ethics,  which,  having  their  foundations 
in  reason,  justice  and  common  sense,  would  be  alike  appli- 
cable to  all  times  and  all  circumstances,  and,  relieving 
Georgia  from  a  dependence  on  foreign  legislation,  relieve 
her  from  reflections  humiliating  to  her  pride  and  mortifying 
to  her  self-love  ? 

The  mollified  penal  code  of  Georgia  had  two  humane 
objects  in  view — 1st,  To  spare  the  life  of  the  criminal 

*  In  these  last  views  of  GOT.  Troup  we  cannot  concur*.  The  saving  of  expense  to  the 
suitor  is  very  desirable ;  but  that  suitor  is  yet  to  bo  found,  who  would  be  willing  to  submit  his 
case,  involving  doubtful  facts  or  intricate  questions  of  law,  without  the  aid  of  argument  from 
his  counsel.  Besides,  competent  Judges  would  not  undertake  such  a  task.  They  want  the 
light  of  every  good  argument  that  can  be  adduced,  even  ';  by  others  who  ought  not  to  be  their 
superiors."  It  is  a  blot  on  our  present  system,  that  even  a  synopsis  rf  the  arguments  of  coun- 
sel is  excluded  from  our  Reports.  If  this  were  the  place  to  suggest  law  reforms,  we  might 
attempt  the  showing  of  another  way  to  save  expense  to  suitors. — ED. 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTT.  |('ii.u'.  IX. 

whenever  it  could  be  done  with  safety  to  society  ;  2d,  To 
reform  him  by  confinement  and  hard  labor — a  system  which 
is  constantly  exhibited  in  contrast  to  the  bloody  one  of 
England,  and  which,  from  its  congeniality  with  the  Ameri- 
can character  and  feeling,  it  would  be  desirable  to  per- 
petuate. Our  code,  however,  is,  in  its  theoretical  detail, 
defective,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  our  .Indies,  who  are 
most  familiar  with  its  virtues  and  its  faults,  will  pnmuimce 
it  so.  Its  mode  of  execution  is  at  Least  equally  so.  The 
remedy  of  both  is  within  your  power,  and.  to  apply  it,  it 
is  only  necessary  to  understand  clearly  what  the  defects 
are.  It  will  be  seen,  on  the  most  superficial  survey,  that 
we  passed  at  once  from  the  extreme  of  severity  to  the  ex- 
treme of  lenity.  It  was  never  believed  that,  under  any 
tolerable  system  of  criminal  jurisprudence,  punishment 
could  be  dispensed  with,  and  yet  the  object  of  reform  ac- 
complished. This,  however,  is  our  system  in  practice. 
There  is  not  even  the  appearance  of  punishment  connected 
with  our  Penitentiary  establishment,  unless  the  restraint 
upon  the  liberty  of  roaming  at  large  for  the  commis>ion  of 
crime,  be  considered  so.  The  far  greater  proportion  of  the 
convicts  at  all  times  are  better  fed,  clothed  and  lo<! 
than  they  have  been  accustomed  to  be;  and,  whilst  they 
perform  the  work  necessary  to  keep  the  body  in  a  healthful 
state,  they  enjoy  not  merely  the  benefits  of  society,  but 
exactly  that  description  of  it,  which, -in  or  out  of  the  estab- 
lishment, they  would  seek  and  court.  The  punishment,  in 
ordinary  cases,  should  be  hard  labor  and  solitary  confine- 
ment— hard  labor  by  day  and  solitary  confinement  by  night. 
The  practice  of  crowding  four  (»r  six  convicts  in  the'same 
dormitory,  is  replete  with  evils  which  inevitably  and  di- 
rectly defeat  the  very  end  of  the  institution.  .Nut  only  is 
vice  rendered  more  vicious  by  it,  but  the  hope  of  reforma- 
tion is  forever  cut  off  from  those  who,  not  hardened  in 
iniquity,  are  willing  to  contemplate,  in  darkness  and  soli- 
tude, their  first  offences  against  the  law,  and  the  gloomy 
consequences  which  never  fail  to  follow  them.  Every 
species  of  association  or  intercourse  between  the  convicts 
ought  to  be  suppressed,  unless  it  be  that  kind  of  it  which  is 
indispensably  necessary  to  the  performance  of  the  work  in 
which  they  are  engaged.  Some  lessons  have  been  taught 
by  the  experience  of  the  oldest  institutions  in  the  United 
States,  which  ought  not  to  be  lost  to  us  in  looking  to  the 
improvement  of  our  own.  The  oldest  and  most  obdurate 
offenders  acknowledge  that  continued  solitary  confinement 
is  the  severest,  the  most  irksome  and  most  tedious  of  all 


CHAP.  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  229 

the  punishments  they  have  suffered  ;  nevertheless,  they 
continue  obdurate  and  unreclaimed.  This  fact,  whilst  it 
affords  additional  proof  of  the  policy  which  would  prevent 
association  or  intercourse  between  older  and  younger  of- 
fenders, and  between  these  and  strangers  of  every  descrip- 
tion, may  show  also  the  expediency  of  dispensing  with 
continued  solitary  confinement  in  most  of  the  aggravated 
cases,  and,  in  place  of  it,  prolonging  the  time  for  which 
they  are  committed.  The  report  of  the  Principal  Keeper 
of  the  Penitentiary  will  disclose  some  judicious  obse'rva- 
tions  relative  to  the  present  state  of  the  police,  discipline 
and  financial  economy  of  the  institution,  and  certain  sug- 
gestions for  reform  and  improvement  in  each. 

With  unfeigned  regret  I  feel  myself  constrained  to  expose 
the  state  of  the  controversy  in  which  Georgia  has  been 
reluctantly  involved  with  the  United  States.  That  every 
disposition  existed  originally  on  the  part  of  this  government 
to  pursue  our  claims  against  the  general  government  with 
moderation  and  good  temper,  is  manifest  from  the  pro- 
ceeding's themselves.  The  Executive  branch  of  it  unequiv- 
ocally disclaims  to  have  been  prompted  on  his  part  by  any 
other  than  the  most  friendly  feelings  towards  the  constituted 
authorities  of  the  United  States;  and  he  fondly  trusts  that 
whatever  of  irritation  has  been  engendered,  or  unkind 
sentiments  expressed,  the  cause  is  to  be  sought  exclusively 
in  the  deep  conviction  felt  by  the  government  of  Georgia, 
that  Georgia  was  about  to  suffer  flagrant  wrong  and  injustice 
by.  the  course  of  policy  adopted  by  the  United  States  in 
their  intercourse  with  the  Indians.  Nor  were  any  com- 
plaints elicited  of  this,  other  than  such  as  were  made  in  the 
most  decorous  and  respectful  terms,  before  the  delegation 
of  Georgia  found  themselves  in  an  attitude  of  humiliation 
at  Washington,  by  the  comparison,  forced  upon  them,  be- 
tween their  own  relation  and  that  of  a  certain  other 
delegation,""  to  the  Executive  government  of  the  United 
States,  in  their  intercourse  with  it.  Nor  was  any  measure 
resorted  to  here,  of  an  uncourteous  character,  until  the 
President  of -the  United  States,  in  a  message  to  Congress, 
had  so  treated  the  claims  of  Georgia  and  the  rights  of  the 
Indians,  as  to  foreclose  the  former  forever  from  making  any 
further  claim  or  demand  upon  the  latter,  provided  there 
should  be  a  recognition  by  Congress  or  by  Georgia  of  the 
doctrine  asserted  by  that  message.  The  Governor  would 

*    The  reference  here  is  to  the  Cherokee  delegation,   mentioned  in  a  preceding  part  of 
this  chnj/tor,  and  composed  of  Ross,  Lowrey,  Ridgo  and  Hicks. — ED. 


230  LTFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TK01T.  [I'HAI-.  IX. 

have  been  wanting  in  duty  to  the  people,  whom  on  that 

occasion  he  represented,  if  lie  liad  not  seixed  the  first 
moment  to  protest,  in  the  strongest  language,  against  sueli 
doctrines:  and  whatever  may  have  been  otlensive  in  the 
manner  of  the  protest  which  he  interposed,  he  insists  that, 
in  regard  to  the  matter,  truth  was  in  every  part  of  it  main- 
tained witli  the  most  scrupulous  fidelity.  The  principle 
asserted  by  the  message  was,  essentially,  that  theCherokees 
were  now  the  fee  simple  proprietors  of  the  soil  ihey  occupy, 
and  6f  consequence  tliat  no  .right  of  territory  could  lawfully 
pass  from  them  without  their  voluntary  ami  express  consent 
— a  principle  so  strange  and  novel,  averted  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  government,  connected  as  it  was 
with  the  declaration  just  previously  obtained  from  the 
same  Indians,  that  they  never  would  consent  to  part  with 
another  foot  of  territory,  amounted  to  an  absolute  denial  of 
our  rights  and  the  destruction  of  our  claims  either  upon 
the  United  States  or  upon  the  Indians  now  and  forever. 
It  was  in  contestation  of  this  novel  and  strange  principle, 
the  Governor  of  Georgia  found  it  to  he  his  duty  to 'address 
himself  to  the  Executive  government  of  the  I'nited  States, 
in  very  plain  language.  The  United  Slates  government 
seemed  not  to  have  understood  our  motto  or  our  emblem, 
or,  understanding,  to  have  disrespected  them.  All  our 
obligations,  therefore,  to  the  United  States  and  to  ourselves, 
our  love  of  peace,  of  harmony  and  of  union,  prompted  to 
this  as  the  only  means  of  warning  the  United  States  gov- 
ernment, in  due  time,  that  they  were  precipitating  them- 
selves upon  a  crisis,  the  least  deplorable  of  the  results  of 
which  would  be  the  entire  ruin  and  destruction  of  the 
weaker  party — results  which  could  not  be  sought  by  the 
United  States,  and  which  we,  on  our  part,  had  the  strongest 
motives  to  avoid.  There  is  yet  time  to  avert  them,  and  it 
is  confidently  believed  they  will  be  averted.  It  is  impossi- 
ble for  the  United  States,  upon  a  deliberate  re-examination 
of  the  subject,  ever  to  persuade  themselves  that  it  would  bo 
possible  for  the  State  of  Georgia,  or  any  other  State  pos- 
ing even  limited  sovereignty,  to  make  a  tame  abandonment 
and  surrender  of  indisputable  and  sacred  territorial  rights, 
to  such  pretensions  as  the  United  States  government  have 
thought  proper  to  urge  in  behalf  of  the  Oherokees.  The 
documents  having  relation  to  this  unpleasant  subject,  ac- 
company this  message,  and  I  will  add  little  else  to  the 
matter  of  them,  save  a  single  fact,  to  show  how  much  the 
United  States  government  have  deceived  themselves  by 
asserting  the  principle  just  adverted  to.  In  the  year  1 


CHAP.  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  231 

the  United  States  concluded  a  treaty  at  Hopewell,  with  the 
Cherokees,  in  the  first  article  of  which  it  is  declared,  "that 
the  United  States  give  peace  to  them  and  receive  them  in- 
to the  favor  and  protection  of  the  United  States,"  and, 
in  the  fourth  article  of  which  it  is  further  declared,  that 
"  the  boundary  allotted  to  the  Cherokees  for  their  hunting 
grounds,  shall  be"  so  and  so,  comprehending  these  very 
lands  which  we  now  demand  of  the  United  States.  And 
this  concession  of  even  a  usufructuary  interest  is  made  on 
certain  conditions  stipulated  in  the  treaty,  and  which,  of 
course,  if  violated  on  the  part  of  the  Cherokees,  would 
cause  a  forfeiture  of  even  this  right  of  hunting.  The 
treaties  of  Galphinton  and  Shoulderbone,  between  Georgia 
and  the  Creeks,  held  in  the  years  '85  and  '86,  contain 
similar  stipulations,  recognizing  the  right  of  soil,  sovereignty 
and  jurisdiction  to  be  in  Georgia  and  the  United  States, 
and  the  right  of  hunting  only  in  the  Indians,  and  within 
such  limits  as  Georgia  and  the  United  States  have  desig- 
nated. You  will  perceive,  therefore,  that  whatever  might 
have  been  tlie  kind  of  tenure  by  which  lands  were  ac- 
knowledged to  be  holden  by  the  Indians  before  the  treaty 
of  Hopewell,  after  that  treaty,  so  far  as  respects  the 
Cherokee  title  to  their  lands,  the  tenure  was  definitively 
settled.  If  the  fee  simple  had  been  with  them  before,  from 
that  moment  it  departed  from  them,  and  vested  in  Georgia. 
It  could  vest  nowhere  else,  because  the  United  States  at 
that  time  recognized  the  paramount  claim  of  Georgia. 
Now,  it  would  behoove  the  United  States  to  show  how 
Georgia  was  divested  of  this  title.  She  could  not  be 
divested  but  in  virtue  of  her  own  express  consent,  and  then 
it  behooves  the  United  States  to  show  the  treaty,  grant  or 
concession,  in  which  such  consent  was  given.  So  far  from 
the  United  States  being  able  to  do  this,  we  produce  the 
articles  of  agreement  and  cession,  to  show  a  confirmation 
to  us  of  this  same  territory  thus  acquired  by  the  treaty  of 
Hopewell.  Suffer  me  to  add  that  the  United  States  have, 
in  theory  and  practice,  uniformly  acted  upon  the  principle 
of  the  treaty  of  Hopewell  with  regard  to  all  other  Indians  ; 
that  is  to  say,  conceding  the  right  of  use  to  the  Indians, 
they  have  reserved  to  themselves  the  allodial  title,  with 
which  are  essentially  connected  jurisdiction  and  sovereign- 
ty ;  and  that,  for  some  reasons  or  other  altogether  unex- 
plained, the  case  of  Georgia  has  been  made  an  exception, 
both  in  theory  and  practice. 

The  Commissioners  of  the  United  States,  in  their  nego- 
tiations  at  Ghent,  asserted  the  rights  of  the  sovereignty 


232  LI^E  OF  GEORGE  M.   TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

and  soil  of  all  the  Indian  country  within  their  boundaries, 
to  be  in  the  United  States,  and,  consequently,  that  the 
Indians  were  mere  tenants  at  Avill.  They  asserted,  more- 
over, what  is  undoubtedly  true,  that  the  system  adopted 
by  the  United  States  towards  the  aborigines,  is  more  liberal 
and  humane  than  that  practiced  by  any  other  nation  beibre 
them.  The  treaty  of  Ilopewell  is  the  basis  of  all  other 
treaties  with  the  Cherokees.  Its  provisions  are  conlirmed 
expressly  by  the  subseqiien!  ones  of  Philadelphia,  in '!'!, 
Tellico,  in  '!>8,  and  Tellieo  in  IM>:..  Disregarding  the  stipu- 
lations of  these  treaties,  the  United  Stall's  acknowledge  the 
fee-simple  to  be  in  the  Indians.  The  Indian-,  therefore, 
may  rightfully  cede  certain  portions  of  territory,  in  lee- 
simple,  to  private  citixens  of  (Ji-nrgia.  Georgia,  in  the 
last  resort,  is  forced  to  draw  the  sword  against  her  own 
ilesh  and  blood.  The  United  States  will  thru  be  the  pri- 
mary agent  in  fomenting  civil  war  between  the  citixens  of 
Georgia;  and,  what  will  be  more  unnatural — the  citixens  of 
Georgia  resident  in  the  Cherokee  country,  will  appeal  to 
the  government  of  the  I'nited  States  to  vindicate  their 
supposed  rights,  against  the  assaults  of  their  own  brothers. 
Thus,  the  United  States,  by  their  new  doctrine,  overthrow 
the  entire  system  of  polity  before  established  in  their  inter- 
course with  the  Indians,  and  will,  if  they  persevere,  rod  a  CO 
Georgia  to  the  necessity  of  re-sorting  for  redress  to  measures 
depending  on  herself  alone. 

As  to  the  guaranties  contained  in  these  treaties,  they 
are  guaranties  to  the  Indians  of  the  right  of  hunting  on 
the  grounds  allotted  them  as  securities  against  the  tres- 
passes of  the  whites,  who  might  interfere  with  that  use, 
and  not  guaranties  of  fee-simple  title.  How  could  the 
treaties  expressly  take  from  the  Indians  the  fee-simple  in 
one  article  and  guaranty  it  to  them  in  another?  If  the 
United  States  have  encouraged  the  Cherokees  to  make 
expensive  improvements  on  the  lands  of  Georgia,  and  such 
improvements  are  assigned  as  the  reason  for  not  making  the 
relinquishmcnt,  the  I'nited  States  are  bound  in  honor  and 
justice  to  pay  the  full  value  of  them,  and  to  give  to  the 
Cherokees  territory  of  their  own  elsewhere,  corresponding 
in  extent  and  fertility  with  that  which  they  abandon.  The 
government  of  Georgia  solemnly  disavows  any  intention 
to  do  the  least  injustice  to  the  Cherokee-,  (in  the  con- 
trary, it  would  respect  their  rights  as  it  would  those  of  any 
other  people,  and  will  contribute  its  full  quota  at  all  times, 
as  it  has  done  in  past  times,  to  civilixe,  improve  and  per- 
petuate a  race  of  men  of  great  nobleness  of  spirit,  and  with 


CHAP.  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  233 

whom  she  has  generally  lived  on  terras  of  peace  and 
friendship :  but  it  can  scarcely  be  expected  by  the  Cher- 
okees  themselves,  that  obvious  and  indisputable  rights  of 
citizens  of  Georgia  should  be  yielded  to  any  interest  of 
theirs,  whether  real  or  imaginary. 

The  government  of  the  United  States  have  thought  proper 
to  state  an  account  current'""  with  the  State  of  Georgia.  In 
this  account,  Georgia  is  charged  with  an  aggregate  of  $7,- 
735,243,  made  up  of  the  following  items,  viz:  §1,250,000, 
under  the  articles  of  agreement  and  cession — $958,954  paid 
in  extinguishment  of  Indian  claims — $1.244,137,  for  995,- 
310  acres  of  Arkansas  land  at  the  minimum  price  of  §1,25 
— and  $4,282,151  paid  to  the  Yazoo  claimants.  It  is  per- 
fectly fair  and  quite  consistent  with  usage,  that  Georgia,  on 
her  part,  should  state  an  account  also  ;  and,  taking  the  rule 
adopted  by  the  United  States,  viz  :  the  present  minimum 
price  of  the  public  lands,  the  account  would  stand  thus : — 
80,000,000  acres  ceded  to  the  United  States,  at  $1,25  per 
acre,  $100,000,000 — from  which  deducting  the  above 
amount,  charged  to  Georgia  by  the  United  States,  there  will 
be  left  a  net  balance  of  $92,264,757,  gratuitously  presented 
by  Georgia  to  the  United  States.  It  will  be  recollected, 
however,  that  from  the  date  of  the  contract  with  Georgia, 
in  1802,  until  the  24th  day  of  April,  1820,  the  minimum 
price  of  public  lauds  had  been  fixed  at  $2  per  acre,  and 
when  it  is  considered  that  between  the  two  periods  no 
lands  were  sold  for  less,  and  large  quantities  were  sold  for 
more,  the  account  can  thus  be  stated: — 80,000,000,  at  $2 
per  acre,  $160,000,000 ;  making  the  same  allowance  for 
Arkansas  lands  exchanged  with  the  Cherokees,  and  giving 
credit  to  the  United  States  for  $1,990,620,  instead  of  $1,- 
244,137,  the  balance  due  to  Georgia  would  be  $151,518,274. 
The  whole  revenue  of  the  United  States  would  not  pay  it 
in  seven  years  ;  to  pay  it  in  one  year  would  involve  the 
mass  of  the  population  of  the  United  States  in  infinite 
distress.  The  interest  would  have  enabled  Georgia  to  dis- 
pense with  taxes — to  educate  all  her  citizens  at  the  public 
expense — to  have  armed  and  equipped  her  militia — to  have 
made  a  garden  of  the  face  of  the  country,  intersected  ev- 
erywhere by  turnpikes  and  canals,  and  studded  with  the 
monuments  of  art.  Foregoing  these  advantages  for  the 
benefit  of  the  United  States,  Georgia  would  have  been  the 
last  to  remind  the  United  States  that  sacrifices  had  been 

*  Referring  to  the  report  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  of  29th  March,  1S24,  from  which 
uro  have  already  extracted,  and  the  account  annexed  thereto. — ED. 

30 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTTP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

made  on  their  account,  if  the  Federal  government,  pt.st- 
poning  the  rights  and  interests  of  Georgia  to  the  imaginary 
rights  of  the  Indians,  had  not  forced  upon  her  a  comparison 
of  what  she  is,  with  what  she  might  have  been. 

l!ut  it  cannot  even  be  conjectured  upon  what  grounds 
Georgia  lias  been  charged  with  the  amount  paid  to  the 
>o  claimants.  Georgia  was  not  consulted  in  the  com- 
promise with  those  claimants.  She  never,  therefore,  gave 
her  assent  to  the  compromise.  On  the  contrary,  so  far  as 
she  could,  she  did  by  her  delegation  in  Congress  resist  it. — 
Georgia,  so  long  as  she  remained  a  moral  agent,  conld  n< 
assent.  The  act  was.  in  effect  and  substance,  a  formal 
decree  of  the  highest  authorities  known  to  the  constitution 
of  the  United  States,  in  perpetual  testimony  of  the  reward 
which  awaits  those  who  shall  in  future  time  successfully 
bribe  and  corrupt  the  representatives  of  the  people  to  sell 
their  country;  and,  as  in  this  case  it  was  the  Legislature  of 
Georgia  which  had  been  so  bribed  and  corrupted,  it  could 
not  be  expected  by  the  I'nited  States  that  her  assent  ever 
would  be  given.  It  would  have  been  equally  reasonable, 
if  the  United  States  had  surrendered  the  whole  country  to 
the  claimants,  and  charged  Georgia  with  the  value  of  it. 

No  time  was  lost  in  transmitting  to  the  President  the  me- 
morial of  the  last  Legislature  on  the  subject  of  citizens' 
claims  against  the  Creek  Indians,  which  had  been  provided 
for  by  the  treaty  concluded  at  the  Indian  Springs.'-  The 
answer  of  the  President,  communicated  through  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  is  submitted.  You  will  sec  that  the  decision 
of  which  we  complained,  is  considered  final,  and  that  no 
revisal  of  it  need  be  expected.  The  provision  of  the  treaty 
was  undoubtedly  designed  to  cover  the  whole  amount  of 
claims  of  every  description  and  of  every  date,  up  to  the 
year  1SO.J,  the  justness  and  fairness  of  which  could  be  sub- 
stantiated by  sufficient  evidence.  Nevertheless,  the  Presi- 
dent has  thought  proper  to  reject  claims  for  property  taken 
and  destroyed,  only  because 'it  happened  to  be  destroyed, 
although  the  broad  and  comprehensive  words  of  the  treaty 
are  ''property  taken  or  destroyed''  ;  and  he,  has  moreover 
resorted  to  the  rules  of  Interpretation  prescribed  by  the  law 
of  nations,  to  expound  treaties  concluded  with  savages,  by 
which  a  farther  considerable  amount  is  deducted  from  the 
claims  of  Georgia,  pre-existing  treaties  not  having,  accord- 
ing to  those  rules,  specifically  provided  for  them.  This  con- 

*  The.  reader  will  not  confound  this   treaty,  made   in  l.sjl,  with   the  .Mi!>se<iuent  treaty  of 
1825.— ED. 


CHAP.  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  235 

straction  is  the  more  unreasonable,  as  those  treaties  were 
concluded,  not  by  Georgia,  but  by  the  United  States,  who 
ought  not  now  to  cause  the  citizens  of  Georgia  to  suffer  by 
their  own  neglect  or  omission.  Georgia,  however,  having 
improvidently  assented  to  refer  those  claims  to  the  arbitra- 
ment of  the  President  alone,  without  appeal,  whatever 
reason  she  may  have  to  complain  of  the  injustice  of  the 
decision,  she  is  precluded  from  resorting  to  any  measures  of 
her  own  for  redress.  The  Indians  well  understanding  that 
the  aggregate  of  the  claims  amounted  to  more  than  $250,- 
000,  intended  that  the  entire  sum  should  be  applied  to  the 
satisfaction  of  them.  According  to  the  rules  adopted  by 
the  President,  claims  to  the  amount  of  $100,000  only,  have 
been  admitted.  Whether  the  balance,  viz :  $150,000,  will 
be  credited  to  the  Indians  or  will  pass  into  the  treasury  of 
the  United  States,  is  not  known  to  me. 

I  announce  to  you,  with  pleasure,  that  in  compliance  with 
the  request  contained  in  the  memorial  of  the  last  session, 
and  in  fulfilment  of  the  stipulations  of  the  articles  of 
agreement  and  cession,  a  treaty  is  about  to  be  holden  with 
the  Creeks  for  the  extinguishment  of  their  claims  to  all  the 
lands  within  our  limits.  May  we  not  flatter  ourselves  that 
this  friendly  measure  is  the  precursor  of  the  final  adjust- 
ment, of  all  differences  between  the  general  government 
and  the  State  of  Georgia ;  and  that,  in  a  like  treaty  with 
the  Cherokees,  we  may  see  all  difficulties  removed — the  re- 
lations of  the  two  governments  restored  to  what  they  ought 
to  be,  and  an  old  contract  which  has  contributed  so  much 
to  disturb  them,  carried  into  complete  and  final  execu- 
tion ? 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure,  also,  to  be  able  to  inform  you, 
on  the  authority  of  our  agent,  that  the  claims  for  militia 
services,  which  have  been  earnestly  and  repeatedly  pressed 
upon  the  Federal  Government  for  some  20  or  30  years  past, 
and  which  have  so  far  remained  unsatisfied,  will  be  likely 
to  find  a  gracious  reception  at  the  ensuing  session  of  Con- 
gress. To  promote  this  desirable  result,  I  recommend  to 
you  to  continue  the  services  of  Col.  Hunter  on  the  part  of 
the  State.  The  justice  of  these  claims  is  so  undoubted,  that, 
to  be  universally  acknowledged,  they  need  only  be  under- 
stood. 

As  soon  as  it  was  ascertained  that  Congress  had  passed  an 
act  authorizing  the  President  to  procure  the  necessary  sur- 
veys, plans  and  estimates  for  roads  and  canals,  &c.,  I  ad- 
dressed a  letter  to  the  President,  requesting  that  Georgia 
should  be  admitted  to  a  participation  of  any  benefits  or 


936  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  IX. 

advantages  which  might  result  to  the  Union  from  that  act, 
and  called  his  attention  particularly  to  the  importance  of 
connecting  the  waters  of  the  Savannah  with  those  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  the  waters  of  the  St.  Mary's  with  those  of 
the  Suwancc.  IFis  answer,  given  through  the  Secretary  of 
War,  is  transmitted  herewith.  It  was  presumed  that  the 
Congress  had  derived  its  power  to  pass  the  act,  from  the 
provisions  of  the  Constitution  which  authorize  it  to  regulate 
commerce  between  the  different  States,  and  which  confide 
to  it  the  defence  of  the  country;  and  that  no  operations 
would  1)0  attempted  under  it  which  would  be  confined  ex- 
clusively to  the  limits  and  jurisdiction  of  any  particular 
State."""  Taking  this  for  granted,  so  far  from  opposing  ob- 
stacles to  its  execution,  I  thought  it  my  duty  to  interpose 
our  claim  for  that  proportion  •  -ml  reuniting  from  it, 

which  might  rightfully  belong  to  Georgia.  And  here  pei- 
mitme,  as  connected  with  this  subject,  to  ask  vmir  attention 
to  a  resolution  of  the  la-t  Legislature,  which  authorizes  the 
Governor  to  direct  a  survey  to  be  made  between  the,  navi- 
•gablo  waters  of  the  St.  Mary's  and  Suwanec  rivers,  for  the 
purpose  of  connecting  them  by  a  canal — a  measure  of  great 
interest  to  Georgia,  and  unquestionably  of  iirst  importance 
to  the  United  States — but  certainly  one  which  can  be  car- 
ried into  execution  by  the  United  States  alone.  The  terri- 
tory through  which  the  canal  must  pass,  is  the  property  of 
the  United  States,  within  their  exclusive  jurisdiction,  and 
any  survey  attempted  there,  under  the  orders  of  the  Gov- 
ernor of  Georgia,  would  be  considered  a  trespass  and  per- 
haps resented  accordingly,  Whilst,  therefore,  I  feel  the 
utmost  solicitude  that  tfiis  work  should  be  undertaken 
promptly,  and  believe,  too,  that  the  United  States  cannot 
engage  in  one  which  will  contribute  so  importantly  to  the 
interests  and  safety  of  the  whole  Union,  I  humbly  submit 
to  you  the  reconsideration  of  the  measure  referred  to,  that, 
if  you  concur  in  opinion  with  me,  the  resolution  may  be 
rescinded.  Georgia  will  not  voluntarily  place  herself  in 
the  wrong  with  the  United  States,  whilst  points  in  contro- 
versy of  a  delicate  nature  remain  unadjusted  between 
them. 

In  executing  the  resolution  of  the  Legislature,  relative  to 
the  running  of  the  line  between  this  State  and  the  State  of 
Alabama,  it  was  discovered  from  the  correspondence 

*  In  the  lan<-':  |  ;„  ],,s  v,.to  m(..^:,;r  ,,f  .||l,  Min,  Ivjj,  -,.f  gener- 

ii.m.t  suit,.  i,«.n,..nt."    BeealM  Pi  idreto 

.  of  'JTth  M:IV.  is:;o._i;i,. 


CHAP.  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE. 

between  the  two  governments,  that  the  Executive  of  the 
United  States  had  never  been  informed  of  the  desire  of  the 
State  of  Alabama  to  have  the  line  run.  And,  for  this  rea- 
son alone,  did  the  United  States  object  to  take  any  agency 
in  the  \vork.  It  is  true  they  assigned  the  additional  one  of 
the  United  States  being  under  no  obligation  to  do  so  by  the 
articles  of  agreement  and  cession,  as  the  Legislatures  of 
Georgia  and  Alabama  had  believed.  Those  Legislatures 
were  mistaken  ;  but  the  United  States  were,  nevertheless, 
bound  by  considerations  of  interest  to  see  that  the  line, 
when  run,  was  truly  run  and  marked.  The  country  coter- 
minous with  that  of  Georgia,  belongs,  as  yet,  to  the  United 
States,  and  not  to  Alabama ;  and,  when  looking  to  the  ul- 
timate interests  of  Alabama,  we  invited  her,  in  the  spirit  of 
sisterly  affection,  to  unite  and  co-operate  with  us,  it  was  not 
expected  that  the  principal  obstacle  to  the  execution  of  the 
work  would  be  found  in  the  denial  by  the  government  of 
the  United  States  that  Alabama  wished  it,  especially  when 
it  was  known  here,  that,  so  long  ago  as  January,  1823,  the 
Legislature  of  Alabama  had  come  to  resolutions  expressive 
of  their  utmost  solicitude  that  the  line  should  be  speedily 
run,  and  that  copies  of  the  same  should  be  transmitted  by 
the  Governor,  without  delay,  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States  and  to  the  Governor  of  Georgia.  A  copy  having 
been  received  in  due  time  at  this  department,  it  was  pre- 
sumed that  one  had  also  been  received  by  the  Executive  of 
the  United  States.  It  was  not  for  the  Governor  of  Georgia 
to  inquire  whether,  in  conformity  with  the  requisitions  of 
the  resolutions,  a  copy  had  been  forwarded  to  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  or  whether,  if  forwarded,  it  had  been 
received.  It  is  sufficient  that  the  United  States  govern- 
ment may  now  know  that  the  assent  of  Alabama  to  the 
running  of  the  line  is  not  wanting ;  and  it  only  remains  for 
me  to  assure  the  Legislature,  that,  whenever  it  becomes 
necessary  to  the  interest  of  the  State  to  cause  the  line  to  be 
run,  such  measures  as  they  think  proper  to  adopt,  will  be 
carried  into  execution  effectually  and  without  delay.  The 
State  of  Alabama  will,  of  course,  be  invited  to  concur,  and 
both  will  consider  it  due  to  the  United  States  to  give  them 
timely  notice.  The  correspondence  on  this  subject  with  the 
government  of  the  United  States  and  that  of  Alabama,  is 
submitted. 

It  is  with  great  reluctance  I  feel  myself  constrained  to  call 
your  attention  to  the  general  relations  between  the  Federal 
and  State  governments.  These  relations,  instead  of  being 
fixed  and  permanent  as  the  Constitution  itself,  are  changing 


238  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROl'P.  [Cnxi\  IX. 

every  day,  although  the  instrument  which  defines  them 
does'not  change.  There  is  in  all  political  bodies,  however 
organized,  an  instinctive  passion  tor  the  accnniulation  of 
poVer.  Those  of  the  Muted  States  have  not  been  back- 
ward in  exhibiting  this  trait,  and,  as  this,  like  most  other 
strong  passions,  acquires  strength  by  indulgence,  it  is  not  a 
subject  of  wonder  that  at  this  day  it  should  be  displayed 
with  a  force  and  effect  calculated  to  awaken  the  most  fear- 
ful apprehen-ions.  Under  its  impulses,  if  not  restrained, 
the  States  will  be  ultimately  stripped  of  the  powers  once 
considered  essential  to  their  sovereignly,  and  be  doomed  to 
move  in  the  humble  and  subordinate  spheres  of  corpora- 
tions merely  municipal.  Without  referring  to  the 
measures  which  (derived  by  latitude  of  construction))  have 
had  a  tendency  to  weaken  the  powers  of  the  >-  :d  to 

strengthen  those  of  the  general  government,  it  will  he  suf- 
ficient to  advert  to  those  of  more  recent  occurrence,  because 
of  more  alarming  character.  They  are  the  attempted  re- 
strictions upon  the  State  of  Missouri  as  conditions  of  her 
admission  into  the  Union — the  repeated  and  partially  suc- 
cessful assertion  of  absolute  and  uncontrollable  power  over 
Internal  Improvement, — -and,  lastly,  but  least  to  be  ex- 
pected, the  bold  assumption  of  the  power  to  regulate,  at 
pleasure,  by  duties,  restraints  and  prohibitions,  the  entire 
industry  of  the  country,  and  eventually,  of  course,  to  pre- 
scribe the  direction  which  the  labor  of  every  man  shall 
take,  whatever  be  his  own  natural  inclination  or  propensity. 
It  was  confidently  believed,  before,  that  if  there  was  any- 
one political  feeling  cherished  by  the  people  of  the  United 
States  more  universally  than  another,  it  was  that  the  free- 
dom of  industry,  that  is  to  say,  the  right  of  every  man  to 
betake  himself  to  any  honest  employment  whatever,  as 
best  suited  his  inclinations  or  interest,  was  absolutely  se- 
cured against  the  possibility  of  encroachment  from  any 
quarter.  The  confiding  American  people  no  more  thought 
of  guarding  this  right  of  freedom  of  industry  against  the 
invasion  of  their  representatives,  than  of  prohibiting  them 
from  contaminating  the  purity  of  the  atmosphere  they 
breathed,  or  poisoning  the  fountains  of  water  from  which 
they  drank.  Nevertheless,  thi-  sacred  riirht,  derived  imme- 
diately from  Deity,  and  which  no  human  institutions  could 
take  away,  did  not  present  even  an  impediment  to  the  giant 
strides  of  the  Federal  Government.  In  thus  defying  nature 
and  transcending  the  limits  of  the  Constitution,  what  apol- 
ogy could  be  found  for  poor,  frail,  misguided  man,  but  the 
one  which  the  advocates  of  this  system  have  sought  for 


CHAP,  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  239  • 

themselves — a  refuge  in  the  exploded  doctrines  of  the 
sixteenth  century — a  refuge,  indeed,  because  covered  with  a 
veil  of  thick  darkness?  But,  to  our  shame  be  it  written, 
the  descendants  of  the  very  people  of  Europe  who  were 
enchained  for  ages  by  this  system,  rise  up  in  our  day,  with 
uplifted  hands  and  voices  against  it.  It  is  this,  say  they, 
which  confined  our  fathers  to  their  work -shops — which  cut 
off  all  intercourse  between  man  and  man,  by  which  intel- 
lect could  be  improved — wMch  made  the  son  to  tread  in  the 
footsteps  of  the  father — and  which  left  him  no  ideas,  no 
sentiments,  no  feelings,  but  what  belonged  to  his  family  and 
to  his  trade.  The  American  Congress,  who  ought  to  be  in 
the  van  of  everything  liberal  in  politics,  in  commerce  and 
in  the  arts,  go  back  to  this  era  to  seek  lessons  of  instruction 
for  their  constituents.  As  Providence  will  have  it,  these 
constituents  are  three  hundred  years  in  advance  of  them  ; 
and,  unless  they  give  lessons  to  their  representatives  in  turn, 
they  will  find  the  general  government  very  soon  employed 
in  making  roads  and  digging  canals  within  their  own  exclu- 
sive limits  and  jurisdiction — levying  taxes  on  one  portion 
of  the  community  for  the  single  purpose  of  giving  en- 
couragement to  the  industry  of  another  portion  of  the 
same  community,  and  finally  passing  an  act  of  universal 
emancipation,  which  would  undoubtedly  be  the  last.  If 
the  Legislature  of  a  State  should  resolve  to  resist  such  as-, 
sumed  powers,  the  United  States  government  would  be 
reduced  to  the  unpleasant  alternative,  either  of  enforcing 
them  because  they  were  clear,  manifest  and  explicit  ones, 
or  of  revoking  them,  as  of  equivocal  and  doubtful  character, 
and  not  justifying  a  recourse  to  civil  war  to  maintain  them. 
And  it  would  seem  that  this  single  consideration  would  be 
sufficient  to  deter  any  wise  and  prudent  administration  of 
government,  under  our  constitution,  from  acting  upon  such 
constructive  powers  at  all. 

I  recommend  to  you  to  avoid  the  unnecessary  multiplica- 
tion of  laws,  as  well  as  their  frequent  alteration  and  amend- 
ment. In  framing  such  as  are  necessary,  too  much  caution 
cannot  be  observed.  Discourage  divorces,'"  seldom  credita- 
ble either  to  those  who  ask,  or  to  those  who  grant  them, 
and  always  indicating  a  depraved  state  of  society.  Give 
the  more  important  elections  to  the  people,  and  confide  to 
others  the  less.  Duties  ought  never  to  be  required  of  them, 

*  When  will  this  stain  upon  the  Statute-Book  of  Georgia — granting  divorces  for 
causes  not  warranted  by  the  law  of  God,  or  agreeable  to  any  enlightened  system  of 
morals — bo  wiped  out  once  and  forever? — ED. 


240  LIFE  OF   GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

which  they  arc  unable  or  unwilling  to  perform.  If  the 
people  desire  to  retain  the  interior  and  Irs-;  important  elec- 
tions, undoubtedly  their  wishes  ought  to  be  consulted.  It 
is  believed  they  do  not.  Of  this,  however,  y»u  arc  the 
best  judges.  The  election  by  the  people  should  be  real,  not 
nominal.  They  should  have  motives  sufliciently  propulsive 
to  turn  out  in  their  strength,  whenever  the  laws  require  it. 
It  is  believed  that  the  civil  and  military  elections  which 
devolve  upon  the  people,  wouhl,  if  they  were  compelled  to 
attend  them,  stop  the  plough  one-fourth  part  of  the  year, 
bring  great  distress  on  families  of  the  poorer  class,  and 
subtract  in  the  same  proportion  from  the  product  of  the 
national  industry.  Our  political  morality  will  never  be 
pure  as  long  as  offices  are  sought;  with  the  avidity  and  im- 
portunity which  now  distinguish  the  canvas?-  for  them  in  all 
the  States  with  the  exception  of  New  England.  Whenever 
it  is  believed  by  the,  people,  that  those  who  seek  office  with 
the  m  :itly  the  most  unworthy,  the 

evil  will  have  found  its  remedy.  Merit  is  Always  conspicu- 
ous enough,  and  our  people  will  IK>  sufficiently  enlightened 
to  discover  and  appreciate  it.  The  nomination,  therefore, 
as  well  as  the  election  of  the  candidate,  ought  to  belong  to 
them.  The  American  historian  will  blush  to  record  the 
scenes  in  which,  within  the  pa-sing  year,  candidates  for  the 
first  dignity  '-"have  not  disdained  to  be  actors.  A  practice, 
ripened  into  custom  among  a  whole  people,  though  proved 
to  be  a  bad  one,  is  not  easily  changed  or  discontinued.  It 
is  known  that  this  must  be  the  work  of  time,  and  of  the 
intelligence  and  virtue  of  the  people  themselves.  Whilst 
I  am  disposed  to  respect,  as  I  ought,  long  established  habits 
and  opinions,  I  would  reproach  myself  were  I  to  withhold 
a  single  sentiment,  the  expression  of  which  it  was  believed 
the  interest  or  honor  of  the  country  required. 

It  will  be  your  duty,  under  the  constitution  and  laws,  to 
proceed  at  an  early  day  to  the  election  of  nine  Electors  of 
President  and  Vice  President;  and,  during  the  session,  to 
the  election  of  a  Senator  f  of  the  I'nited  States  to  succeed 
the  Hon.  John  Elliott,  whose  term  of  service  expires  on  the 

*     Tin-  iv,  .        .         .Mr.   Clay, 

Jlr.  Crawl',,]  i  the  camlkla!  ill  "f  whirh   w 

lii-ctiun,  in  Frhrnary.  l*i">,  »f  Mr.  A, lain-,  hy  tin-  ll»:  he  hail 

not  received  a  plurality  nf  ratal  iti  Hi 
was  the  .  [ici'iili-. — Ki>. 

t     II, 'M.  .Icihn   M.   I;  v.  ithoiii    opposition.  '-Ir.  Klliott,  ami 

Hon.  Thomas   \V.  (',.1,1,  in  plan-  of  Mr.   Waiv.     Mr.  (',.1,1.    liaviir,'  rorigMd  hi-  Mti  in  tin-  I". 

B- HOOM  of  BeprewnUftiTM,  Hon.  K.  II.  \\;:  •.on  13th  DC, 

1824.— KD. 


CHAP.  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  241 

third  of  March  next — also  a  Senator  to  fill  the  vacancy 
occasioned  by  the  death  of  the  Hon.  Nicholas  Ware,  and 
three  Brigadier  Generals,  viz  :  for  the  first  brigade  of  the 
second  division,  vice  Thomas  Glascock,  resigned — for  the 
second  brigade  of  the  second  division,  vice  John  Irwin, 
deceased — and  for  the  second  brigade  of  the  third  division, 
vice  Elias  Beall,  removed. 

The  clauses  in  the  public  acts,  which  authorize  free 
persons  of  color  to  be  sold  into  slavery,*  ought  to  be  ex- 
punged from  them,  as  repugnant  to  the  constitution  and  the 
laws  of  God. 

The  report  of  the  Treasurer  will  exhibit  the  state  of  our 
finances.  The  aggregate  of  sales  of  the  last  fractions 
amounted  to  $262,325,25.  The  commissioners  who  super- 
intended them,  deserve  well  for  the  assiduity,  fidelity  and 
integrity  with  which  they  discharged  the  laborious  duties. 

A  statement  of  the  votes  taken  at  the  late  general  elec- 
tion, in  conformity  with  a  resolution  of  the  Legislature, 
with  a  view  of  ascertaining  the  popular  will  in  relation  to 
the  mode  of  choosing  Electors  of  President  and  Yice  Pres- 
ident, is  submitted  ;  from  which  it  appears  that  a  preference 
has  been  given  to  that  by  popular  election,  and  by  a  large 
majority.f 

[These  three  paragraphs  of  the  message,  being  of  local 
or  temporary  interest,  are  omitted.] 

A  resolution  of  the  Legislature  of  Ohio,  is  submitted, 
recommending  the  abolition  of  slavery.  Whilst  it  affords 
evidence  that  our  sister  has  not  interests  of  her  own  to 
occupy  her,  and  that  she  manifests  very  tender  concern  for 
ours,  we  cannot  forbear  saying  that  our  property  will  be 
safe  in  our  own  keeping  for  the  present.  It  is  mortifying 
that  our  rights  of  private  property  should,  in  violation  of 
every  sentiment  of  delicacy  and  propriety,  be  canvassed 
and  passed  upon  by  strangers  of  every  description,  and  in 
every  possible  form  of  combination  and  conspiracy.  We 
must  arrest  this  nuisance,  or  throw  it  back  upon  the  ag- 
gressors. That  self-created  societies,  prompted  by  false 
conceits  of  philanthropy  and  benevolence,  should  offi- 
cially intermeddle  in  a  matter  which  it  is  impossible  for 
them  to  comprehend  because  of  the  dense  atmosphere  of 
prejudice  which  surrounds  them,  would  be  unpardonable, 

*    A  repeal  took  place,  accordingly,  on  20th  December. — ED. 

f  An  act  was  passed  on  ISth  December,  giving  this  election  to  the  people;  and  this 
mode  of  choosing  the  Electors  of  President  and  Vice  President  has  been  ever  since  con- 
tinued.— ED. 

31 


LIFE    OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  IX. 

if  it  were  not  known  that,  upon  certain  subjects  and  in  the 
most  enlightened  communities,  there  aiv  to  he  found  the 
greatest  enthusiasts  and  fanatics.  But  that  the  enlightened 
State  of  Ohio  should  assume  the  prerogative  of  dictating  to 
Georgia  what  disposition  she  shall  make  of -her  own  domes- 
tic property,  is  passing  strange.  Georgia  has  never  at- 
tempted to  interfere,  directly  or  indirectly,  with  the  internal 
polity,  local  institutions,  or  rights  of  property  of  any  of  the 
States,  and  it  was  hoped  that  the  same  delicacy  and  for- 
bearance would  have  distinguished  the  conduct  of  other 
States  in  relation  to  herself.  The  respectable  State  of  Ohio 
ought  to  remember  that  there  may  be  some  things,  con- 
nected with  her  own  institutions  and  manners,  not  very 
agreeable  to  the  people  of  Georgia,  and  that  the  work  of 
retaliation  is  always  an  easy  one.  She  must  learn,  too, 
that  the  question  which  she  has  taken  the  liherty  to  pre- 
sent to  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  is  one  which  Georgia 
will  never  permit  herself  to  receive  at  the  hands  of  strangers 
— that  she  will  make  it  for  herself  whenever  it  may  be 
proper  to  make  it  at  all,  and  exactly  at  the  time  and  after 
the  manner  she  shall  deem  best  ;  and,  repulsing  all  foreign 
interference  as  obtrusive,  will  take  to  herself  exclusively 
the  good  and  the  merit,  as  she  will  certainly  be  obliged  to 
take  the  evil,  which  may  come  of  it.  Our  sister  of  Ohio 
will  understand,  for  the  future,  that  this  is  a  subject.  *>// 
generis,  which  only  ourselves  can  comprehend  ;  that  the 
efforts  of  others  to  better  the  condition  of  the  negro  have 
invariably  made  it  woise,  and  that  the  negro  has  never  yet 
found  a  sincere  friend  but  his  master. 

I  lay  before  the  Legislature,  at  the  same  time,  sundry 
other  resolutions  of  too  States  of  Ohio,  Massachusetts, 
Maine,  New  York  and  Mississippi. 

The  returns  of  the  different  Hanks  in  which  the  State  has 
an  interest,  are  submitted.  Two  of  them  have  not  been 
made  in  conformity  with  the  terms  of  the  resolution  of  the 
last  session,  and  have  been  so  notified.  All  of  them  should 
resume  specie  payments  without  delay.  Whatever  may  be 
the  state  of  debit  and  credit  in  the  course  of  trade  between 
this  and  other  States,  producing  an  unfavorable  rate  of  ex- 
change, that  exchange  will  always  be  augmented  in  pro- 
portion to  the  real  or  supposed  depreciation  of  our  paper. 
And  if  there  exists  no  cause  for  the  real,  the  Bank  should 
furnish  no  pretence  for  a  constructive,  depreciation — a 
consequence  inevitable  from  a  failure  to  pay  in  specie,  and 
which  will  be  a  clear  subtraction  from  the  wealth  of  Geor- 
gia, to  the  amount  of  that  depreciation. 


CHAP.  IX.]  HIS  FIRST  ANNUAL  MESSAGE.  243 

Finally,  I  recommend  to  yon  to  bring  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  subjects  submitted,  calmness  of  temper,  and 
more  especially  a  kindly  feeling  and  forbearance  towards 
each  other ;  so  that,  from  the  measures  which  follow,  we 
may  be  able  to  render  an  account  of  our  stewardship, 
creditable,  if  not  to  our  understandings,  at  least  to  our 
hearts.  Unless  I  deceive  myself,  you  may  safely  count  on 
similar  feelings  predominating  here  ;  and  if,  from  this  con- 
cert and  concurrence,  benefits  do  not  ensue,  it  will  be  more 
our  misfortune  than  our  fault.  Whatever  of  error  or  omis- 
sion may  result,  good  intention  and  the  love  of  country  will 
atone  for.  You  will  see,  indeed,  indications  of  unpleasant 
feelings,  the  offspring  of  our  controversy  with  the  United 
States.  Entertaining,  we  are  bound  in  honesty  to  express, 
them.  The  highest  considerations  and  the  warmest  sym- 
pathies attract  us  to  the  great  centre  of  our  social  system. 
That  centre,  however,  must  revolve  on  its  axis  in  the  place 
assigned  to  it.  The  primary  and  secondary  bodies  must 
move,  each  in  its  own  orbit.  It  is  our  duty,  in  keeping  the 
even  tenor  of  ours,  to  contribute  to  the  order  and  harmony 
of  the  whole,  and  this  duty  we  will  endeavor  to  fulfil. 
That  no  baleful  comet  may,  in  its  irregular  course,  strike 
one  of  them  from  its  place,  and,  deranging  the  system, 
bring  all  back  to  chaos  and  confusion,  is  the  fervent  prayer 
of  your  fellow-citizen, 

G.  M.  TROUP. 

The  Representatives  from  Georgia,  elected  to  Congress, 
this  year,  were  John  Forsyth,  Edward  F.  Tattnall,  George 
Gary,  Wiley  Thompson,  Alfred  Cuthbert,  James  Meri- 
wether,*  Charles  E.  Haynes — the  two  last  in  place  of  Mr. 
Cobb  and  Mr.  Abbott,  who  declined  being  candidates  for 
re-election. 

A  committee  of  the  Senate,  to  whom  had  been  referred 
so  much  of  the  Governor's  Message  as  related  to  the  Ohio 
resolution  on  the  subject  of  slavery,  made  a  report,  which 
passed  both  houses,  and  was  approved  by  the  Governor  on 
the  7th  December.  In  their  report,  the  committee,  amongst 
other  things,  said : 

"  While  your  committee  contemplate,  with  no  ordinary 
emotions,  the  ameliorated  condition  of  the  slave  in  the 

*  Appointed  16th  July,  1824,  with  Duncan  G.  Campbell,  to  treat  with  the  Creeks.— ED. 


944  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M-  TR«'»1T  [CHAP.  IX. 

Southern  country,  they  view  with  regret  this  unnecessary 
interference  on  the  part  of  a  sister  State,  so  well  calculated 
to  excite  the  anticipations  and  hopes  of  the  slave,  and  impel 
him  to  those  acts,  which,  instead  of  bettering  his  condition, 
must  augment  his  misfortunes.  Your  committee,  therefore^ 
consider  the  resolution  as  violative  of  the  true  dictates  of 
humanity;  and  this  idea  is  supported  by  a  contrast  of  the 
slave  population  of  the  South,  with  the  wretched  and  miser- 
able condition  of  the  free  people  of  color  who  crowd  the 
houses  of  punishment  and  correction  in  some  of  our  sister 
States.  If,  in  the  South,  they  do  not  revel  in  liberty,  they 
are  at  least  supplied  with  the  necessary  wants  <>t'  life." 

A  resolution,  appended  to  the  report,  disapproved  the 
Ohio  resolution,  and  requested  the  Governor  to  transmit  a 
copy  of  the  Georgia  resolution  to  the  Governor  of  each  of 
the  States. 

Resolutions  were  passed,  at  the  >ame  session,  authorizing 
and  requesting  the  Governor  to  receive  General  La  Fayette, 
"  in  such  manner  as,  in  his  judgment,  may  evince  the  grati- 
tude of  the  people  of  this  State  for  his  distinguished  ser- 
vices," and  authori/ing  the  Governor  to  draw  on  the 
contingent  fund  for  such  sums  of  money  as  might  he  n< 
sary  to  cany  into  effect  the  resolution  for  reception. 

During  the  session  of  1823,  a  bill  was  passed  to  alter  and 
amend  the  second  section  of  the  second  article  of  the  Con- 
stitution of  the  State,  so  as  to  make  the  Governor  elect  i\  c 
by  the  people.  In  1S24-,  it  was  again  passed  b\  a  constitu- 
tional majority,  in  both  Houses,  and  was  approved  by  the 
Governor.  In  the  Senate,  there  were  only  nine  votes  against 
it — in  the  House,  t>  //. 

[1824.]  In  his  annual  message  of  7th  December,  the 
President  announced  to  Congress  that  Commissioners  had 
been  appointed,  and  negotiations  for  a  treaty  -\vith  the 
Creek  Indians  were  then  pending.  The  Commissioners 
appointed  on  the  part  of  the  I'nited  States,  were  Duncan 
G.  Campbell  and  James  Meri wether,  of  Georgia. 

The  Governor  sent  in  the  following  ine-age  to  the  Legis- 
lature : 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE  INDIAN  CONTROVERSY.  245 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  GEORGIA, 

Milledgeville,  \ltJi  Dec.,  1824. 
As  a  reasonable  expectation  ought  to  be  indulged  that 
the  treaty  now  holding  with  the  Creeks,  after  the  negotia- 
tion has  been  thus  far  protracted,  will  terminate  in  a 
further  acquisition  of  territory,  I  recommend  to  you,  before 
your  adjournment  to  pass  a  provisional  resolution,  requiring 
the  Governor,  in  such  event,  to  convene  the  Legislature, 
and  at  such  season  as  may  best  comport  with  your  conveni- 
ence. 

G.    M.    TROTTP. 

Each  House,  therefore,  passed  a  resolution  for  the  calling 
of  an  extra  session  in  May  following. 

The  preliminaries,  for  a  treaty,  to  which  the  Governor 
referred,  were  then  being  carried  on  at  a  place  called 
Thle-cath-ca,  or  Broken  Arrow,  on  the  Chattahoochee ;  but 
these  negotiations,  which  were  begun  early  in  December, 
failed,  as  will  be  seen  in  the  sequel.  Pending  the  negoti- 
ation, Gov.  Troup  addressed  to  the  Commissioners,  the  fol- 
lowing letter  : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  GEORGIA, 

Milledgeville,  9th  Dec.,  1824. 
Gentlemen : — The  Legislature  will  probably  adjourn 
about  the  18th  instant ;  and,  as  much  anxiety  is  manifested 
to  know  whether  you  have  any  prospects  of  concluding  a 
treaty,  I  have  sent  an  express,  that  this  letter  may  be  safely 
delivered  into  your  own  hands.  If  there  are  no  prospects  of 
bringing  your  mission  to  a  favorable  termination,  be  so  good 
as  to  apprise  me  of  the  obstacles  you  have  had  to  encoun- 
ter. If  you  found  yourselves  anticipated  and  forestalled  by 
the  Indian  Council  held  in  the  Spring,  of  which  we  received 
the  first  notice,  recently,  through  an  Alabama  print,  inform 
me,  if  you  please,  by  what  authority  that  council  was  held  ? 
— whether  with  the  knowledge,  countenance  or  encourage- 
ment of  the  Agent  ?*  Was  the  Agent  present  at  that 
council,  and  what  part  did  he  take  ?  "Who  drew  up  their 
state  paper  ?  Were  the  proceedings  of  that  council  made 
known  by  the  Agent  to  his  government,  without  delay,  and 
was  it  with  a  knowledge  of  these  proceedings  that  you  were 
appointed  ?  "Were  any  allusions  made  to  them  in  your  in- 
structions ?  You  will  pardon  the  trouble  I  give  you.  There 

*    John  Crowell,  appointed  Agent  to  the  Creek  Indians  early  in  1821,  in  place  of  Qen. 
D.  B.  Mitchell.— ED. 


24:6  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUT.  [CHAP.  IX. 

is  no  absolute  right,  on  my  part,  to  propound  these  ques- 
tions ;  no  obligation  on  yours  to  answer  them.  Neverthe- 
less, you  are  citizens  of  Georgia,  and,  if  your  negotiations 
fail,  you  will  see  how  necessary  for  me  to  receive  true  and 
correct  answers  to  these  questions,  from  such  authority  as 
will  enable  me  to  use  them  in  vindication  of  our  rights,  to 
the  best  advantage.  You  will  not  infer,  from  any  of  them, 
that  hasty  inferences  have  been  indulged  to  the  prejudice 
of  the  government  of  the  United  States.  Hope  is  still  en- 
tertained that  all  will  be  right ;  and  in  no  event  will  anything 
besought  to  inculpate  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
but  strict  matter  of  fact. 

With  great  consideration  and  respect, 

G.  M.  TROI-I-. 

The  Commissioners,  in  their  reply  of  the  14th  December, 
said  :  "  We  are  not  without  our  difficulties  in  determining 
what  shall  be  our  answer  to  the  several  inquiries  which  you 
have  propounded.  These  do  not  arise,  however,  from  any 
reluctance  to  make  to  you  a  full  disclosure  of  our  proceed- 
ings, and  the  obstacles  which  we  have  had  to  encounter, 
but  from  an  apprehension  that,  by  such  communication,  we 
might)/0r  the  present,  weaken  the  means  of  which  we  hope 
successfully  to  avail  ourselves."  And  again :  "  The  pro- 
ceedings which  you  have  seen  published,  as  occurring  at 
Tuckabatchee  and  Pole  Cat  Springs,  were  evidently  intend- 
ed to  forestall  us.  They  have,  in  a  great  measure,  had  the 
effect,  by  spreading  alarm  throughout  the  nation,  by  the 
miserable  farrago  of  threats  which  they  contain.  For  some 
time  past,  the  Cherokees  have  exerted  a  steady  and  officious 
interference  in  the  affairs  of  this  tribe.  That  this  has  de- 
rived additional  impulse,  and  that  we  are  now  encountering 
a  daily  interference,  most  active  and  insidious,  we  have  no 
doubt." 

Anticipating  our  narrative  a  little,  it  may  be  proper  here 
to  state  that  on  the  llth  January,  1825,  after  the  failure  at 
Broken  Arrow,  Col.  Campbell,  one  of  the  commissioners, 
submitted  to  the  Secretary  of  War  the  following  proposi- 
tion :  "  The  facts,  heretofore  disclosed,  show  a  willingness, 
on  the  part  of  the  Indians  within  the  Georgia  limits,  to  cede 


CHAP.  IX.]  THE  INDIAN  CONTROVERSY.  247 

their  territory,  and  to  emigrate;  but  insurmountable  ob- 
stacles present  themselves  to  the  acceptance  of  a  treaty 
thus  concluded.  It  is  now  proposed  to  re-assemble  the 
Chiefs  of  the  whole  Nation  ;  to  renew  the  offers  al- 
ready made ;  to  obtain  the  entire  Creek  country,  if  prac- 
ticable ;  but,  if  this  cannot  be  effected,  then  to  accept  a 
treaty  signed  by  the  Chiefs  within  the  limits  of  Georgia, 
provided  such  treaty  be  accompanied  by  the  assent  of  the 
other  Chiefs,  that  the  land  to  be  abandoned  by  the  emigra- 
ting party  shall  be  immediately  subject  to  the  disposition 
of  the  Government."  In  his  reply,  of  18th  January,  the 
Secretary  of  War,  after  stating  that  the  President  had 
"deliberately  considered"  a  former  "proposition  submit- 
ted by  the  commissioners  to  treat  with  the  Creeks,  of 
holding  a  separate  treaty  with  Gen.  Mclntosh,"  &c.,  &c., 
and  that  the  President's  opinion  was  "that  he  cannot,  with 
propriety,  authorize  the  treating  with  Gen.  Mclntosh  alone, 
as  proposed  by  the  Commissioners,"  &c.,  &c.,  yet  added  : 
"  the  President  can  see  no  objection  to  a  renewal  of  the 
negotiation,  as  proposed  in  your  letter  of  llth  instant,  in 
order  to  obtain  an  arrangement  with  Gen.  Mclntosh,  with 
the  consent  of  the  nation,  for  the  cession  of  the  country  in 
question  ;  and  you  are,  accordingly,  in  conjunction  with 
Major  Meriwether,  as  commissioners,  authorized  to  renew 
the  negotiation.  You  will,  however,  distinctly  perceive, 
in  the  remarks  which  have  been  made,  that,  whatever  ar- 
rangement may  be  made  with  Gen.  Mclntosh,  for  a  cession 
of  territory,  must  be  made  by  the  Creek  nation,  in  the  usual 
form,  and  upon  the  ordinary  principles,  with  which  treaties 
are  held  with  the  Indian  tribes." 

The  Legislature  of  1823  having  appointed  the  late  Hon. 
William  Schley  *  "  to  compile  and  digest  the  statute  laws 
of  England  "  then  "  of  force  in  the  State  of  Georgia,"  and 
having  authorized  the  Governor  to  have  the  same  "  exam- 

*  This  gentleman  is  well  and  honorably  remembered  as  having  been  afterwards  Judge 
of  the  Superior  Courts  of  the  Middle  Circuit,  a  Representative  in  Congress,  and  Governor  of 
Georgia  from  1835  to  1837.  He  died  at  Augusta,  on  20th  November,  1858,  much  esteemed  by 
all  who  knew  him. — ED. 


248  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAr.  IX. 

ined  by  a  committee  of  three  learned  hi  the  law,"  after 
which  he  was  to  "approve  or  disapprove  of  the  same," 
Governor  Troup  appointed,  as  that  committee,  Messrs. 
Charles  Harris,  William  Davies  and  Thomas  U.  P.  Charlton. 
In  !SL>I;,  the  work  was  approved  by  the  Governor,  and  it  has 
since  been  known  to  the  legal  profession  and  the  public  as 
" Schley's  Digest."  The  following  is  his  letter  to  Judge 
Charlton  on  the  subject.  It  will  be  seen  that  he  indulges 
in  some  pleasantry  in  regard  to  the  compensation  which  he 
was  authorized  to  make  to  the  committee  for  their  services. 

VAIDOBTA,   Laurens.    Il2th  April,  1>'JI. 

Sir:  I  received  your  letter,  yesterday,  on  the  subject  of 
a  Compilation  and  Digest  of  tlie  Statute  Law  of  Kngland 
in  Ibrce  in  this  State,  and  com-nr  entirely  in  tlie  views  you 
have  taken  of  it. 

I  can  ea-ily  conceive  that  the  work  may  be  either  worth- 
less or  highly  valuable.  The  competency  of  the  hand-  to 
which  its  execution  lias  been  contided.  is  ample  security 
that  the  latter  result  will  be  attained.  There  can  be  no 
doubt  of  the  extent  of  your  power-  over  it — to  approve  or 
disapprove  are  terms  equally  applicable  to  every  part  as 
to  the  whole;  and,  as  the  greater  power  is  always  construed 
to  include  the  lesser,  you  are,  of  course,  invested  with  that 
of  revision  and  correction  ;  and  this  is  in  perfect  consonance 
with  what  I  understand  to  be  Mr.  Schley's  own  views  of 
your  several  duties  under  the  resolution;  so  that  you  can- 
not fail  to  move  harmoniously  in  the  execution  of  the  work, 
and  make  it  in  the  end  what  you  desire  it  should  be. 

As  to  the  compensation  for  your  services,  all  1  can  say  at 
present,  is,  that  1  will  endeavor  to  be  as  liberal  as  possible  ; 
but,  if  in  attempting  what  I  wish  in  this  respect,  my  counige 
should  fail  me,  I  would  turn  you  over  to  the  Legislature, 
backed  by  as  strong  a  recommendation  as  any  Governor, 
elected  by  the  Legislature,  dare. 

This  letter  is  intended  as  well  for  Messrs.  Harris  and 
Davies  as  for  yourself. 

Respectfully  yours,  G.  M.  TROUP. 

Thomas  U.  P.  Charlton,  Esq., 
Savannah. 


Before  proceeding,  as  we  shall   in  the  next  and  succeed- 
ing chapters,  to  give   a  somewhat  detailed  account  of  the 


CHAP.  IX.]  CHARGES  AGAINST  COL.  CROWELL.  24D 

Creek  controversy,  it  is  proper  to  make  reference  to  the 
relations  subsisting  between  the  Executive  of  Georgia  and 
Col.  Orowell,  whose  appointment  as  Indian  Agent  has  been 
already  noticed  ;  and,  the  more  especially,  as  the  inquiries 
in  Gov.  Troup's  letter  of  9th  December,  1824,  to  the  U.  S. 
Commissioners,  implied  doubt  of  the  Agent's  fidelity  to  the 
interests  of  Georgia  ;  and  the  following  extracts  of  a  letter 
from  the  Governor  to  the  President — containing  serious 
charges  against  the  Agent — will  be  found  so  frequently  re- 
ferred to  hereafter,  as  to  make  it  almost  necessary  that 
portions  of  it  be  inserted  here. 

On  the  3d  of  March,  1817,  the  eastern  part  of  the  Mis- 
sissippi Territory  was,  by  act  of  Congress,  made  a  separate 
Territory,  called  Alabama ;  and  on  the  16th  day  of  Novem- 
ber, 1818,  Col.  John  Crowell  took  his  seat  in  the  House  of 
Representatives,  at  Washington,  as  its  Delegate.  On  the 
14th  December,  1810,  Alabama  was  admitted  into  the 
Union.;  and,  as  already  seen,  Col.  Crowell  was,  early  in 
1821,  appointed  Agent  to  the  Creek  Indians. 

On  the  8th  of  January,  1824,  Rev.  William  Capers,  as 
Superintendent  of  the  Creek  Indian  Mission,  and  Chairman 
of  the  Missionary  Committee  of  the  South  Carolina  Con- 
ference, addressed  a  long  letter  (verified  by  affidavit)  to 
the  Secretary  of  War,  complaining  of  the  Agent,  charging 
that  he  could  not  do  justice  where  religion  was  concerned  ; 
that  he  was  believed  to  be  an  enemy  to  the  Gospel,  abusing 
his  authority  and  his  influence  to  oppugn  it,  &c.  This 
letter  was  handed  to  Governor  Troup,  for  transmission  to 
Washington  ;  and,  in  forwarding  it  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
the  Governor  wrote  as  follows : 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  16th  January,  1824. 

Sir:     In  submitting  to  you  a  complaint  against  an  officer 

under  your  authority,  it  will  not  be  understood  that  I  am 

actuated  by  any  other  motive  than  the  desire  of  making  you 

intimately  acquainted  with  a  man  who  would  seem  so  far  to 

be  an  utter  stranger  to  you.     You  will  see,  in  the  sequel, 

dark  and  mysterious  things  unveiled,  and  upon  such  high 

authority  that  no  man  dare  to  shut  his  eyes  against  them. 

The  naked  statement  which  I  make,  will  pass  for  nothing 

32 


250  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP-  IX. 

— it  is  so  intended — but  the  sacred  and  solemn  appeal  which 
I  know  has  preceded  it,  will  make  an  instantaneous  and 
lasting  impression.  It  comes  from  a  sacred  source,  where 
piety  and  devotion  unite  with  patriotism  to  bring  culprits 
of  every  kind  to  justice. 

You  are  IK.)  stranger  to  the  virtues  of  Mr.  Capers,  who. 
blending  the  finest  talents  and  accomplishments  \vith  no 
ordinary  eloquence,  stands  first  among  Christian  ministers 
in  this  Southern  country.  I  have  said  tohim,  that  his  oath, 
which' he  has  tendered  in  support  of  his  memorial,  is  no 
better  than  his  word,  and  that  you  will  so  consider  it ;  so 
of  the  rest — he  is  the  voucher  for  them  all,  and  a  better 
you  cannot  have. 

Mr.  Crowell,  the  Agent,  not  being  an  inhabitant    of  the 
State  of  Georgia,  but  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  aban- 
doning his  station,  did,  for  political  purposes,  repair  to  the 
seat  of  government  of  Georgia,  with  the   sole  view    and 
intent  to  use  his  influence  in  behalf  of  one  of  the  candi'i 
at  the  late  election  for  Governor,  and  did  so  use  ir  in  the 
most   open,  public,  and  grossly    indelicate  manner;  thus 
intermeddling  in  the  politieal  affairs  of  a  State  to  which  he 
ought  to  have  been,  as  he  was,  in  fact,  a  stranger  and  an 
alien;  and   thus   compromising  the   Government,    v, 
agent  he  was,  in  a  matter  in  which  the  highest  interests  of 
the  States  were  involved  ;  no  less  interests  than  the  freedom 
and  independence  of  the  elective  franchise. 
Very  respectfully,  &c.,  &c., 

G.  M.  TKOL-I-. 
The  Hon.  J.  C.  Calhoun, 
Secretary  of  War. 

To  these  things,  Col.  Crowell  replied,  on  18th  March, 
denying  what  he  called  "  the  unfounded  and  frivolous 
charges"  of  Mr.  Capers,  and  retorting  upon  the  Governor 
with  considerable  acrimony.  In  noticing  the  charge  of  in- 
terfering with  the  political  affairs  of  Georgia,  he  said: 

"  That  I  am  no  inhabitant  of  Georgia,  is  not  correct ;  the 
seat  of  my  agency  being  within  the  chartered  limits  of  that 
State.  That  I  am  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  is  true  ; 
but  that  I,  in  a  'grossly  indelicate  manner,'  opposed  his 
election,  I  deny.  That  I  <>pr/tl>/  and  hold!;/  did  so,  I  admit. 
In  doing  this,  I  may  have  acted  imprudently,  by  provoking 
his  resentment;  but  how  my  doing  this  could  compromit 
the  Government,  whose  agent  I  am,  in  relation  to  the  free 


CHAP.  IX.]        RELATION  OF  THE  CREEKS.  251 

and  independent  exercise  of  the  elective  franchise,  in  Geor- 
gia, I  confess  I  have  yet  to  learn.  *  There 
is,  certainly,  then,  no  express  or  implied  incompatibility 
between  the  office  of  Indian  Agent  and  that  of  opposer  to 
Governor  Troup,  in  his  canvass  for  public  suffrage." 

In  answer  to  the  letter  of  Mr.  Capers,  the  Secretary  of 
War,  under  date  of  30th  March,  said  : 

"  The  President  regrets  that  there  should  be  any  mis- 
understanding between  yourself,  and  the  society  of  which 
you  are  a  member,  and  the  Agent.  But,  after  a  careful 
examination  of  the  charges,  and  the  reply,  he  is  of  opinion 
that  there  is  no  foundation  on  which  to  take  any  measure 
against  him,  particularly,  as  his  general  conduct,  in  the 
discharge  of  his  official  duties,  has  been  marked  by  prompt- 
itude and  accuracy,  as  far  as  they  have  come  within  the 
knowledge  of  the  Department,"  &c. 

And,  in  writing  to  the  Agent,  on  the  same  day,  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  said :  "  You  will  give  a  decided  countenance 
and  support  to  the  Methodist  Mission,  as  well  as  to  any  other 
society  that  may  choose  to  direct  its  efforts  to  improve  the 
condition  of  the  Creek  Indians,"  &c.,  &c, 

As  introductory  to  what  follows  in  succeeding  chapters, 
it  is  proper  to  present  a  concise  view  of  the  relations  exist- 
ing between  tlie  Creek  nation  of  Indians  and  the  United 
States,  for  some  time  before  and  at  the  conclusion  of  the 
treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs,  in  February,  1825. 

On  the  30th  of  August,  1813,  occurred  the  terrible  mas- 
sacre at  Fort  Mims  on  the  Alabama  river.  The  attacking 
party  was  led  by  the  celebrated  Weatherford,  instigated  by 
British  agents.  Even  before  this  time,  the  Creeks  were 
divided  into  two  parties — the  peace  party,  or  Friendly  In- 
dians, supported  by  Mclntosh  and  his  friends — and  the  war 
party,  or  Red  Sticks,  so  called  from  the  painted  color  of 
their  war  clubs.  The  former — sometimes  called  Lower 
Creeks — resided  almost  wholly  in  Georgia  ;  the  latter — or 
Upper  Creeks — lived  almost,  if  not  altogether,  in  Alabama. 
The  war  which  ensued  between  the  Red  Sticks  and  the 
United  States,  and  the  victories  gained  by  Gen.  Floyd,  of 
Georgia,  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson  and  others,  over  these 

O         "  ' 

hostile  Indians,  find  their  appropriate  place  in  the  general 


252  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.   TROTT.  [Crur.  IX. 

history  of  the  country.  Vanquished  in  battle,  and  broken 
in  spirit,  the  hostile  Creeks  yielded  in  1S14,  and  the  treaty 
of  Fort  Jackson,  already  noticed,  was  tlu>  result.  The  war 
party  were  a  conquered  people ;  and  yet  they  were  after- 
wards the  almost  unyielding  enemies  of  the  Georgians  and 
Alabamiuns. 

The  brave  Mclntosh  was  ever  the  friend  of  Georgia  and 
the  Union.  In  the  subsequent  war  with  the  Seminoles  of 
Florida,  who  were  aided  and  encouraged  by  some  of  the 
Red  Sticks,  Mclntosh  commanded  a  brigade  of  Friendly 
Creeks,  and  did  effective  service  against  the  Seminoles  and 
their  allies. 

From  a  report  made  by  .Joseph  V.  P>evan,  Esq.,  in 
October,  1825,  to  Governor  Troup,  by  appointment  of  the 
Legislature,  we  make  the  following  extract.  Keferring  to 
a  difficulty  between  the  .Indian  Agent  and  .Mclntosh,  in 
1824,  Mr.  Be  van  said  : 

Somewhat  before  this  period,  Mclntosh  proposed,  in  a 
Council  of  the  Cherokees,  that  they,  the  Creeks,  the  Chick- 
asaws  and  Choctaws,  should  emigrate  westward  of  the 
Mississippi  ;  and  there  that  these  four  nations  of  Southern 
Indians  should  form  one  consolidated  government.  It  is 
needless  to  say  that  these  propositions  were  rejected — this 
was  not  all:  Mclntosh,  (who  had  been  constituted  a  Cher- 
okee Chief,  in  consequence  of  intermarriage  with  one  of 
their  women,)  was  degraded,  and  denounced  to  his  own 
countrymen  as  an  enemy  to  the  Red  People.  These  senti- 
ments were  speedily  adopted  by  the  P>ig  Warrior,'-'  who 
assembled  a  few  of  the  Upper  Creek  Chiefs  at  the  Pole 
Cat  Springs,  where,  with  the  assistance  of  his  son-in-law, 
(who  was  also  sub-agent  under  Col.  Crowell,)  those  cele- 
brated resolutions  were  passed,  which  are  now  held  to 
justify  the  murder  of  all  those  who  signed  the  treaty.  It 
was  then  that  parties  began  really  to  be  distinguished  ;  the 
Upper  Creeks  or  Alabama  In'H<inx  inclining  to  the  Cher- 
okee talks  ;  the  Lower  Creeks,  or  Georgia  Indians,  to  those 
of  Mclntosh:  and  it  was  in  this  state  of  things,  that  Mc- 
lntosh came  to  the  determination  that  ho  would  .conclude 


*  This  Chief,  although  not  one  of  the  Hod  Sticks,  belonged  to  the  Upper  Towns.    lie  diod 
at  Washington  city  on  the  8th  of  March,  1825.— ED. 


CHAP.  IX.]  MR.   SEVAN'S  REPORT.  253 

the  treaty,  (as  lie  and  the  Little  Prince  "''had  done  but  four 
years  before,)  without  waiting  for  the  consent  of  those 
Towns  situated  on  -the  waters  of  the  Coosa  and  Tallapoosa. 
To  this  measure,  it  appears  that  he  was  strongly  influenced 
by  three  considerations: 

1.  That  the  Cowetuh  Towns,  being  the  oldest  in  the  nation, 
were  at  one  time  sole  owners  of  the  country,  and,  as  such, 
by  the  custom  of  the  nation,  have  absolute  authority  with 
regard  to  the  disposition  of  land. 

2.  At  all  events,  that  each  town,  retaining  its  original 
rights  with  regard  to  territory,  inviolate,  and  having  never 
surrendered  them,    (such  as  they  were,)   to  the  National 
Council,  had  full  authority  to  dispose  of  its  own  domain. 

3.  That  the  Upper  Towns  had  forfeited  their  rights,  if 
they  ever  had  any,  by  their  treason  during  the  war  ;  which 
had  caused  the  cession  or  surrender  of  all  the  lands  men- 
tioned in  the  treaty  at  Fort  Jackson. 

There  are  also  three  important  facts  belonging  to  the 
history  of  this  transaction,  which  it  would  be  as  well  to  take 
along  with  you : 

1.  That   the  few   friendly  Indians   among  the  Upper 
Creeks,  during  the  late  war,  were  either  in  the  power  or 
possession  of  the  hostiles,  until  relieved  by  Mclntosh  and 
his  Cowetas. 

2.  That  neither  the  Big  Warrior,  the  celebrated  Hopo- 
ithle   Yoholo,  nor  any  other  Chief  of  the   Upper   Creek 
Nation,  signed  the  treaty  of  1821 — a  treaty  whose  validity 
has  never  been  questioned. 

3.  That  at  the  treaty  held  by  Messrs.  Campbell    and 
Meriwether,  the  Cussetuhs  had  already  taken  the  talk  of 
the  Commissioners,  before  their  departure  over  night,  which, 
being  the  Indian  mode  of  accepting  a  proposition,  was  held 
by  Mclntosh  as  sufficient  to  justify  its  formal  conclusion 
according  to  the  mode  of  the  white  people,  without  obliging 
all  his  heathens  to  affix  the  signature  of  the  cross. 

*  Another  celebrated  Chief  of  the  Upper  Towns,  and  who  w;is  after,  if  not  before,  the 
death  of  Big  Warrior,  their  head  Chief,  and  who  figures  largely  in  subsequent  transactions. 
His  Indian  name  was  Tustennuck  Opoyow,  or  Tustunnuggee  Hopoie.  He  was,  by  some,  re- 
garded as  "  Head  Chief  of  the  Nation." — ED. 


254:  MFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CnAr.  X. 


CHAPTEE   X. 


>»!!<•!  i"I«l  a-  ill-  ///'•   Creek  I  ml  inn*.  —  Disturbances  ;/roin'/i;/ 

OUt     of    it.  -  Murili  r     of     McIntOfh,  -  dun  rii,.,-'*     Unijiti'in    of 

Ijn    Fayette.  —  A'.'/,'-./   N'  *simi   <>f  tin-  Legislature.  —  (i<»-mi>i/-'i< 
J/rx.s'm/r  .  —  ///x  Recommendations.  —  1  '/>/'•*  <///  Slur,/-!/ 

—  rrni-n  iliii'j*  i  if   tin-   I,t  ,/ixln'iiri  .  —  fi'of  /•//"/•'*    ('i,,-ri'. 

i'-it/i  iln   President)  Oen.  Garnet  <nnl  n/ln  ,-*,  Ixi/ini,  dV.,  ((V. 


The  causes  of  the  failure  of  negotiations  at  Broken  Arrow, 
will  appear  by  reference  to  the  documents  published  in  this 
chapter.  Negotiation-  were  then  transferred  to  the  Indian 
Springs,  after  the  f'oll(i\vini^  notification  had  been  ijiven  to 
the  Agent  of  Indian  A  flairs. 

WA-!II\(;TM\  Crrr,  January  12,  ls-_':>. 

Sir  :  —  The  Commissioners,  on  the  part  of  the  United  States 
have  coineto  the  conclusion  of  assembling  the  Chiefs  of  the 
Creek  nation,  for  the  purpose  of  submitting  to  them  mat- 
ters of  importance  to  themselves  and  tin-  (  Jovernnicnt.  The 
day  of  convention  will  be  the  7th  of  February  next,  Mon- 
day, at  the  Indian  Springs.  We  arc;  desirous  that  all  the 
Chiefs  of  the  nation  should  attend,  who  are  in  the  habit  of 
transacting  public  business,  and  of  signing  treaties.  You 
will  cause  the  enclosed  invitation  to  be  circulated,  forthwith, 
among  the  chief--,  and  broken  days  issued  accordingly.  On 
my  return  to  Georgia,  which  will  be  in  a  few  days  1  shall 
probably  have  occasion  to  address  you  further  upon  the 
subject  of  the  negotiation. 

I  am,  sir,  your  obedient  servant, 

DUNCAN  (i.  CAMIT.KLL. 
Col.  John  Crowd  1, 

Agent  Indian  Affairs. 

The  "  invitation"  or  circular,  dated  the  same  day,  and 
signed  by  Col.  Campbell,  in  behalf  of  himself  and  the  other 
Commissioner,  addressed  "  to  the  Chiefs  of  the  Creek  Na- 
tion," was  in  the  following  words  : 

".By  the  authority  of  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
you  are  requested  to  convene  at  the  Indian  Springs,  on 


CHAP.  X.]  COUNCIL  OF  CREEK  INDIANS.  255 

Monday,  the  7th  day  of  February  next.  Matters  of  great 
consequence  to  the  Nation  and  t'lie  United  States,  will  be 
laid  before  you.  We  shall  expect  all  to  be  present,  on  the 
day  appointed,  who  are  in  the  habit  of  transacting  the 
business  of  the  Nation,  and  of  signing  treaties." 

On  the  7th  of  February,  the  Commissioners  met  at  the 
place  appointed,  but,  as  few  of  the  Chiefs  had  arrived,  no 
business  was  then  done.  The  Agent  was  present,  and  on 
the  same  day  addressed  a  note  to  the  Commissioners,  in 
which  he  said  :  "  Having  been  informed  by  the  War  De- 
partment of  the  renewal  of  the  negotiation  with  the  Creek 
Indians,  for  a  cession  of  land,  and  being  instructed  to  obey 
your  orders  in  relation  to  the  negotiation,  I  now  have  the 
honor  to  inform  you  that  I  will,  in  compliance  with  my  in- 
structions, obey  such  instructions  as  I  may  receive  from  you 
in  the  fulfilment  of  your  duties  under  the  instructions  of 
the  War  Department,  and  cheerfully  co-operate  with  you 
in  bringing  to  a  successful  termination  the  present  negoti- 
ation." 

On  the  10th,  the  Commissioners  finding  that  Chiefs  and 
Head  Men,  to  the  number  of  nearly  four  hundred,  had 
convened,  a  meeting  was  had,  except  with  the  Tuckabatchee 
Chiefs,  who  sent  a  message  "  that  they  were  not  ready,  and 
were  not  disposed  to  meet  in  the  room  prepared  for  the 
council,  but  were  disposed  to  hold  meetings  at  their  own 
camp."  The  Council,  nevertheless,  proceeded  to  business, 
and  after  "a  long  and  friendly  talk"  by  the  Commissioners 
to  the  Chiefs,  a  treaty  was  concluded,  and,  after  being  dis- 
cussed and  explained,  was  signed,  on  the  12th,  [Feb.,  1825,] 
."by  all  the  chiefs  present,  except  the  delegation  from 
Tuckabatchee,  and  one  chief  from  Talladega."  In  the 
mean  time,  however,  a  part  of  the  Chiefs  of  two  of  the 
towns  had  left,  mysteriously,  and  the  only  explanation  of 
this  movement,  obtained  at  the  time,  was  that  the  "  order" 
for  their  departure  was  given  by  William  Hambly,  United 
States  Interpreter,  aided  by  the  advice  of  Stedham,  a  Chief 
of  one  of  the  towns. 

It  is  not  important,  here,  to  particularize  the  terms  of  the 


256  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CiiAr.  X. 

treaty,  except  to  state  that,  for  a  consideration  named,  the 
Creeks  ceded  to  the  United  States  "all  the  lands  lying 
within  the  boundaries  of  the  State  of  Georgia  as  defined  by 
the  compact"  of  1802  between  the  United  States  and 
Georgia,  in  exchange  for  lands  of  "  the  like  quantity,  acre 
for  acre,  westward  of  the  Mississippi :"  and  that  the  period 
of  their  removal  was  not  to  ''extend  beyond  the  first  day 
of  September,  in  the  year  eighteen  hundred  and  twenty- 
six."  It  is  important  to  state  that  this  treaty,  signed  by 
the  United  States  Commissioners,  by  William  Mclntosh. 
"  Head  Chief  of  Cowetaus,"  and  fifty-one  other  Chiefs,  was 
"executed  on  the  day  as  above  written,  in  presence  of 

JoilX    CUOWKLL,  At/*  nf  for   /ndi'lll     A  (}''!  if*" 

"Whatever  may  have  been  the  truth  of  the  char, 
brought  against  this  Agent,  or  the  extent  of  his  connection 
with  the  subsequent  troubles  in  the  ('reek  country,  there  is 
no  doubt  that,  after  having  been  thus  present  at  the  council 
and  the  execution  of  the  treaty,  and  having  xiym-d  Jiis 
name  as  a  witness  to  it,  lie  wrote,  the  very  next  day,  a  letter 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  of  which  the  following  is  an 
extract : 

"•  Yesterday  a  treaty  was  signed  by  Mclntosh,  and  his 
adherents,  alone.  Being  fully  convinced  that  this  treaty  is 
in  direct  opposition  to  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  instruc- 
tions, which  1  have  a  copy  of,  I  feel  it  to  be  my  bound  en 
duty,  as  the  agent  of  the  government,  to  apprise  you  of  it, 
that  you  may  adopt  such  measures  as  you  may  deem  ex- 
pedient, as  to  the  ratification  ;  for.  if  ratified,  it  may  produce 
a  horrid  state  of  thing-  among  these  unfortunate  Indians. 
It  is  proper  to  remark  that,  with  the  exception  of  Macintosh, 
and  perhaps  two  others,  the  signatures  to  this  treaty  are 
either  chiefs  of  low  grade,  or  not  chiefs  at  all  ;  which  you 
can  perceive,  by  comparing  them  to  those  to  other  treaties, 
and  to  the  receipts  for  the  annuity,  and  these  signers  are 
from  eight  towns  only,  when  there  are  fifty-six  in  the 
nat:on." 

Now,  assuming  all  these  things  to  be  true,  the  question 
is,  why  did  not  the  Agent  decline  any  participation  in  the 
business  ? 

Col.  Campbell,  one  of  the  Commissioners,  wrote  thus,  to 
tho  Secretary  of  War,  on  IGth  February  : 


CHAP.  X.]  TREATY  WITH  THE  CREEK  INDIANS.  257 

"  On  the  13th  instant,  we  had  the  honor  of  enclosing  to 
you,  from  the  Indian  Springs,  the  copy  of  a  treaty  which 
had  been  concluded,  the  day  previously,  with  the  Creek 
nation  of  Indians.  On  Monday  morning,  the  14th,  a  sup- 
plemental article  was  added,  which  has  exclusive  relation 
to  two  reservations  claimed  by  the  Indian  chief,  General 
Mclntosh.  I  am  gratified  at  the  opportunity  which  I  now 
make,  of  transmitting  to  the  Department,  by  oar  Secretary, 
Major  Hay,  the  original  treaty  and  the  Commissioners' 
Journal.  On  reference  to  this  last  document,  you  will 
discover  under  what  circumstances  the  negotiation  was 
renewed,  and  how  it  progressed  and  terminated.  There  is 
nothing  of  singular  import  in  the  whole  proceeding,  except 
the  sudden  and  mysterious  departure  of  the  Cussetaus,  at 
night,  after  solemn  assent  to  a  treaty.  The  explanation 
given  to  this  movement,  by  the  report  of  Col.  Williamson,* 
at  the  conclusion  of  the  Journal,  I  hope  will  be  found  sat- 
isfactory. The  step  was  far  from  being  voluntary.  These 
chiefs,  doubtless,  were  deluded  by  a  wily  and  perfidious 
individual  in  the  service  of  the  government,  as  interpreter. 
His  opposition  to  a  treaty  was  notorious.  His  life  and  char- 
acter have  been  too  much  diversified,  and  too  strongly 
marked,  to  make  him  a  fit  officer  of  public  trust.  The 
attendance  of  the  Chiefs  was  a  full  one ;  much  more  so 
than  is  usual  when  Chiefs  only  are  invited.  The  opposi- 
tion was  feeble,  and  seems  to  have  been  dictated  by  the 
Big  "Warrior.  The  deathf  of  this  Chief,  I  conceive,  puts 
the  question  at  rest.  That  all  opposition  will  now  cease, 
and  that  the  dissenting  party  will  now  treat  and  reunite 
themselves  witli  the  majority,  I  have  no  doubt.  To  meet 
this  expected  contingency,  a  portion  of  the  appropriation 
has  been  reserved." 

The  foregoing  extracts  show  the  opinion  of  the  Commis- 
sioners, or,  at  least,  one  of  them,  in  regard  to  the  fairness 
of  the  treaty  ;  but  events  were  in  progress  of  maturity  and 
development,  for  which  neither  they  nor  the  public  were 
then  prepared. 

Whatever  may  have  been  thought  of  the  course  of  Presi- 
dent Monroe  with  reference  to  the  recent  demonstration  of 

*  This  gentleman  had  been  employed  by  tho  U.  ?.  Commissioners  to  ascertain  the 
reason  of  the  departure  of  certain  Chiefs  from  tho  treaty  ground;  and  it  was  upon  infor- 
mation given  him,  that  Hambly  and  Stedhaui  wore  implicated. — ED. 

f  It  has  been  seen  that  ho  was  not  then  dead.  His  Indian  namo  was  Tustunniiiwe 
Thlucco. — ED. 

33 


258  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROITP.  [CHAP.  X. 

the  so  called  "  Cherokee  delegation,"  he  soon  after  signal- 
ized the  close  of  his  administration,  in  regard  to  the  Indians, 
and  especially  those  resident  in  Georgia,  by  an  admirable 
message  which  he  communicated  to  Congress  on  the  27'.  h 
of  January,  1825.  We  make  the  following  extracts: 

"  For  the  removal  of  the  tribes  within  the  limits  of  the 
State  of  Georgia,  the  motive  has  been  peculiarly  strong, 
arising  from  the  compact  with  that  State,  whereby  the 
United  States  are  bound  to  extinguish  the  Indian  title  to 
the  lands  within  it,  whenever  it  may  be  done  peaceably  and 
on  reasonable  conditions.  In  the  fulfilment  of  this  com- 
pact, I  have  thought  that  the  United  States  should  act  with 
a  generous  spirit,  that  they  should  omit  nothing  which 
should  comport  with  a  liberal  construction  of  the  instru- 
ment, and  likewise  be  in  accordance  with  the  just  rights  of 
those  tribes.  From  the  view  which  I  have  taken  of  the 
subject,  I  am  satisfied  that,  in  the  discharge  of  these  im- 
portant duties,  in  regard  to  both  the  parties  alluded  to.  the 
United  States  will  have  to  encounter  no  conflicting  inter- 
ests with  either.  On  the  contrary,  that  the  removal  of  the 
tribes  from  the  territory  which  they  now  inhabit,  to  that 
which  was  designated  in  the  message  at  the  commence- 
ment of  the  session,  which  would  accomplish  the  object  for 
Georgia,  under  a  well-digested  plan  for  their  government 
and  civilization,  which  should  be  agreeable  to  themselves, 
would  not  only  shield  them  from  impending  ruin,  but  pro- 
mote their  welfare  and  happiness.  A 

negotiation  is  now  depending  with  the  Creek  nation,  for 
the  cession  of  lands  held  by  it  within  thelimits  of  Georgia, 
and  with  a  reasonable  prospect  of  success.  To 

give  effect  to  this  negotiation,  and  to  the  negotiations 
which  it  is  proposed  to  hold  with  all  the  other  tribes  within 
the  limits  of  the  several  States  and  Territories,  on  the  prin- 
ciples and  for  the  purposes  stated,  it  is  recommended  that 
an  adequate  appropriation  be  now  made  by  Congress." 

The  following  is  the  Governor's  letter  to  the  Commis- 
sioners, on  the  subject  of  the  message  : 

EXKCI'TIVK  DKl'AUTMKNT,  GK<  MMilA, 


Gentlemen  :  Within  this  hour,  the  mail  has  brought  an 
important  communication,  made  by  the  President  to  Con- 
gress, on  the  27th  ult.,  and  connected  with  the  objects  of 
your  commission.  Fearing  a  copy  may  not  have  reacbed 
you,  I  hasten  to  forward,  by  express,  a"  newspaper  which 


CHAP.  X.]  REPLY  OF  THE  COMMISSIONERS.  259 

contains  it.     He  can  be  with  you  early  to-morrow  morning. 
With  consideration  and  respect, 

G.  M.  TKOUP. 
D.  G.  Campbell,  J.  Meriwether,  Esqrs., 

U.  S.  Commissioners  for  holding  treaty  with  the  Creeks, 
Indian  Springs. 

The  Commissioners  replied,  on  the  9th,  from  Indian 
Springs : 

It  affords  us  much  pleasure  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  yours  of  yesterday,  enclosing  a  special  message  lately 
made  by  the  President  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States. 
We  were  aware  that  such  communication  was  intended  to 
be  made,  and  had  arranged  for  its  transmission  to  this 
place.  It  had  not  arrived,  however,  which  makes  the 
arrival  of  your  express  the  more  acceptable.  The  Chiefs  of 
the  nation  are  coming  in,  in  considerable  numbers.  We 
discover  distinctly  the  decided  hostility  of  a  large  deputa- 
tion from  Tookaubatchee,  but  are  of  opinion  that  in  council 
we  have  the  ascendency  in  numbers  and  in  grade.  We 
cannot  admit  the  possibility  of  defeat,  yet  such  may  be  the 
result.  Our  expectations  are  founded  upon  facts  which 
amount  to  strongest  assurance  of  success,  and  we  must  in- 
dulge the  gratification,  that  even  "  while  Troup  is  Govern- 
or," *  the  policy  and  obligations  of  the  United  States  will 
be  effected,  and  the  rights  of  Georgia  obtained. 

The  Governor  wrote  again  to  the  Commissioners  : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  GEORGIA,  \ 
MilledgeviUe,  IZthFeb.,  1825.    J 

Gentlemen :  Accept  my  thanks  for  your  last  letter  by 
express.  A  dispatch  from  Mr.  Forsyth  has  this  moment 
reached  me,  and,  believing  it  may  be  of  service  to  you,  I 
hasten,  by  another  express,  to  place  you  in  possession  of  it. 
Our  delegation,  as  was  expected,  are  resolved  to  do  their 
duty ;  it  is  known  to  me  you  will  do  yours  to  all  parties, 
and  I  will  endeavor  not  to  be  wanting  in  mine.  There  can 
be  no  doubt  of  the  correctness  of  the  suggestion  of  Mr. 
Forsyth,  that  a  treaty  concluded  with  that  portion  of  the 
tribe  resident  in  Georgia,  for  the  cession  of  all  the  lands 
within  our  limits,  would  be  approved  by  Congress. 

With  great  respect  and  consideration, 

G.  M.  TROUP. 

*  lleferring  to  a  remark  attributed  to  the  Agent,  that  "  Georgia  should  get.  no  land 
from  the  Indians  while  Troup  was  Governor ;"  showing  the  suspicion  of  the  Agent's  hos  - 
tility  to  the  treaty  even  before  it  was  signed. — ED. 


20,)  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CiiAr.  X. 

To  which  the  Commissioners  replied  : 

INDIAX  SIM:L\«;S,  Keh.  13th,   1825. 

Sir:  Your  express  has  this  moment  reached  us,  and 
delivered  your  communication  covering  the  proceedings  of 
Congress  upon  the  Indian  question.  Wo  arc,  liappyto  in- 
form you  that  the  "long  agony  is  over,"  and  that  \ve 
.concluded  a  treaty,  yesterday,  with  what  we  consider  the 
Nation,  for  nearly  the  whole  country.  We  enclose  you  a 
copy,  also  dispatches  for  the  Government.  These  last  are 
addressed  to  your  care,  to  secure  their  certain  transmission 
by  to-morrow's  mail.  The  original  Treaty  will  he  conveyed 
li\  our  Secretary,  to  Washington  City,  by  thcstaire  leaving 
Wilkes,  on  Thursday  next.  We  are  still  in  time  for  ratiii- 
cation  by  the  present  Senate,  and  beg  to  oiler  you  our 
sincere  gratulations  upon  the  more  than  successful  issue  of 
a  negotiation  in  which  you  have  been  an  ardent  co-worker. 
With  great  consideration  and  respect, 

1)(  M  A\  (  \.  CAMIMIKLL, 
.1  AMKS  MEEIWETHEB. 
His  Excellency  G.  M.  Troup. 

Soon  after  the  failure  of  negotiations  at  Broken  Arrow, 
Gov.  Troup  had  addressed  a  letter  to  the  President,  dated 
23d  December,  1824,  complaining  of  the  conduct  of  the 
Agent,  and  in  which,  speaking  of  that  conduct,  he  said  : 
"  you  had  timely  and  sufficient  warning,  by  a  communica- 
tion which  I  had  occasion  to  make  the  Executive  Govern- 
ment, some  twelve  months  since,  and  which  was  answered 
by  the  confirmation  of  this  same  man  in  office.  ' 

Having  received  information  of  the  signing  of  the  tre 
Gov.  Troup  addressed  the  following  letters  to  the  Georgia 
delegation  In  Congress  : 

EXKCUTIVE  DKI-AKTMKNT,  GKORLIA,       / 


Gentlemen  :  From  what  I  have  learned,  unofficially,  of 
the  late  conduct  of  the  Agent  at  the  Indian  Springs,  his 
hostility  to  the  interest  of  Georgia  has  suffered  no  abate- 
ment. I  can  by  no  means  vouch  for  the  accuracy  of  the 
reports  connected  with  it.  The  Commissioners  must  know, 

*  The  sub-Agent,  Walker,  was  dismi^cil  from  his  oilier,  by  t]\<-  Sivn-tary  of  War.  i;i 
January,  1825,  on  the  ground  that,  "  BO  fur  fmm  criiitrilnitinj,'  t>  rll'.vt  tlir  obj<vt  of  the 
government,  your  influence  uas  been  us.'d  in  deftatbtg  f  of  the 

trenty."—  KD. 


CHAP.  X.]       LETTERS  TO  THE  GEORGIA  DELEGATION.  261 

and,  if  founded  in  truth,  you  will  be  satisfied,  that  the 
Agent  will  leave  no  efforts  unessayed  to  detain  the  Creeks 
in  their  own  country,  to  the  last  hour  limited  by  the  treaty, 
if  he  be  longer  continued  in  office.  Mclntosh  and  all  his 
people  are  willing  to  hurry  away — the  Agent  can  retard  or 
detain  them,  by  the  multiplication  of  obstacles  which  will 
be  insuperable  to  them.  We  are  much  concerned  in  their 
speedy  removal. 

With  great  consideration  and  respect, 

G.  M.  TKOUP. 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  GEORGIA, 
MilledgemUe,  Vlth  Feb.,  1825. 
Gentlemen  :  "What  was  stated  in  my  letter  of  the  15th, 
in  relation  to  the  conduct  of  the  Agent  at  the  Indian 
Springs,  as  rumor,  is  continued  as  matter  of  fact.  Profess- 
ing good  dispositions,  and  tendering  hearty  co-operation  to 
the  Commissioners,  he  was  secretly  engaged  in  under- 
mining them.  The  Chiefs  were  all,  the  Tookaubatchees 
excepted,  ready  to  sign  the  treaty,  and  whilst  the  Commis- 
sioners were  occupied  in  the  preparation  of  it,  the  Agent 
ordered  a  portion  of  them  to  depart  by  night.  When  the 
Commissioners,  to  their  astonishment,  discovered  this  seces- 
sion, they  dispatched  Col.  Williamson  in  pursuit,  and  to 
advise  them  to  return  ;  but  their  resolution  was  fixed,  and, 
when  it  was  asked  why  the}7"  had  thus  precipitately  turned 
their  backs  upon  the  Commissioners,  on  the  very  eve  of  the 
signature,  their  answer  was,  one  and  all,  "  by  order  of  the 
Agent."  You  see,  therefore,  that  but  for  thjs  perfidious  in- 
terference, the  treaty  would  have  been  concluded  by  the 
entire  nation,  and  with  an  unanimity  almost  unexampled. 
This  last  act  of  the  Agent  proves  that  he  is  yet  animated 
by  the  same  inveterate  hostility  to  the  interests  of  Georgia, 
which  signalized  his  conduct  and  defeated  the  treaty  at 
Broken  Arrow.  It  is  the  interest  of  Georgia,  as  I  believe 
it  is  the  wish  of  her  people,  that  the  territory  be  organized 
as  speedily  as  possible,  consistently  with  the  treaty  ;  and  as, 
in  expediting  the  removal  of  the  Indians,  much  will  depend 
on  the  facilities  afforded  by  the  Agent,  it  is  presumable 
that  he  will  not  fail  to  take  the  necessary  measures  to  detain 
them  to  the  last  hour  limited  by  the  treaty.  I  understand, 
further,  that  those  of  the  tribe  who  refused  their  assent  to 
the  treaty,  threaten  injury  to  Mclntosh  and  his  Chiefs. 
Should  the  execution  of  these  threats  be  attempted,  (the 
treaty  having  been  ratified,)  I  will  feel  it  to  be  my  duty  to 
punish,  in  the  most  summary  manner,  and  with  the  utmost 


Of;  2  LIFE  OF  GEORGE    M.  TROTJP.  [CHAP.  X. 

severity,  every  such  attempt,  as  an  act  of  hostility  commit- 
ted within  the  actual  territory  and  acknowledged  jurisdic- 
tion of  Georgia ;  and  thus,  whether  the  Agent  of  the  United 
States  may  think  proper  to  deport  himself  as  a  neutral  or 
a  partisan. 

With  great  respect  and  consideration, 

G.  M.  TROTJP. 

P.  S.  Dr.  Meriwether,  the  Secretary  to  the  Commission- 
ers, I  learn,  proceeds  to  Washington  with  the  treaty.  Ho 
will,  no  doubt,  be  able  to  give  you  any  information  which 
you  may  require  touching  the  proceedings  at  the  Indian 
Springs. 

G.  M.  TROUP. 

The  Hon.  Senators  and  Representatives  in 
Congress,  from  Georgia, 
Washington  City. 

The  Secretary  of  the  Commission  was  Major  Hay,  and 
not  Dr.  William  Meriwether,  who  wn<  present, however, and 
afterwards  made  an  affidavit,  from  which  the  following  is  an 
extract : 

"After  the  whole  treaty  had  been  gone  through  and  ex- 
plained, it  was  signed  and  sealed  by  the  parties.  There 
was  no  objection  whatever  made  by  Col.  Crowell,  or  the 
Interpreter,  when  called  upon  to  witness  the  treaty,  nor  did 
this  deponent  ever  hear  from  Col.  Crowell  the  slightest  sug- 
gestion that  the  Chiefs  present  were  not  competent  to  make 
a  treaty,  nor  does  he  believe  that  any  such  suggestion  was 
made." 

On  the  2Sth  of  February,  1825,  the  President  sent  to  the 
Senate,  "  a  treaty  lately  concluded  at  the  Indian  Springs, 
by  Commissioners  of  the  United  States,  duly  authorized, 
with  the  Chiefs  of  the  Creek  Nation,  assembled  in  council, 
with  the  documents  connected  therewith." 

So  it  appears  that  Col.  Crowell's  letter,  of  13th  February, 
complaining  that  the  treaty  was  "  in  direct  opposition  to 
the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  instructions,"  had  no  effect  upon 
the  Executive  Government  at  Washington.  On  the  3d  of 
March,  the  Senate  advised  and  consented  to  the  treaty,  and 
the  same  was  duly  ratified  and  confirmed  by  Mr.  Adams, 
(who  had  succeeded  Mr.  Monroe,  in  the  Presidency,  on  the 


CHAP.  X.]  TEE  GOVERNOR'S  PROCLAMATIONS.  263 

fourth  of  March,)  four  days  afterwards,   that  is,   on   the 
seventh  day  of  the  same  month."* 

On  the  21st  of  March,  the  Governor  issued  his  procla- 
mation, which,  after  reciting  the  ratification  of  the  treaty, 
&c.,  said : 

"  I  have,  therefore,  thought  proper  to  issue  this,  my 
proclamation,  warning  all  persons,  citizens  of  Georgia  and 
others,  against  trespassing  or  intruding  upon  the  lands  oc- 
cupied by  the  Indians,  within  the  limits  of  this  State,  either 
for  the  purpose  of  settlement  or  otherwise  ;  as  every  such 
act  will  be  in  direct  violation  of  the  provisions  of  the  treaty 
aforesaid,  and  will  expose  the  aggressors  to  the  most  cer- 
tain and  summary  punishment  by  the  authorities  of  the 
State  and  of  the  United  States." 

A  proclamation  was  also  issued  by  the  Governor,  on  the 
18th  day  of  April,  reciting  the  ratification  of  the  treaty, 
the  importance  "  that  the  territory  aforesaid  should  be  or- 
ganized and  settled  .with  as  little  delay  as  may  comport 
with  the  provisions  of  the  treaty  ;  and,  to  this  end,  the 
assent  of  the  Indians  having  been  obtained,  to  the  running 
and  survey  of  the  country  under  the  authority  of  the  State" 
• — he,  therefore,  by  authority  of  the  Legislative  resolve, 
called  an  extra  session  of  the  General  Assembly,  to  meet 
at  Milledgeville  on  the  23d  day  of  May. 

Meanwhile,  a  storm  was  gathering,  which  was  soon  to 
burst  on  the  head  of  Mclntosh,  and  to  produce  scenes  of 
disorder  seldom  witnessed  amongst  civilized  or  savage  men. 
With  the  calmness  and  foresight  for  which  he  was  so  re- 
markable under  the  most  adverse  circumstances,  Governor 
Troup  had  contemplated  the  prospect,  and,  witli  his  usual 
energy,  had  determined  to  prevent  the  threatened  outbreak, 

*  The  vote,  in  tho  Senate,  on  advising  and  consenting  to  the  treaty,  was  as  follows : 
YEAS — Messrs.  Barbour,f  Bell,  Benton,  Bouligny,  Brown,  Clayton,  COBB,  Dickerson,  Katon, 
Edwards,  ELLIOTT,  Findlay,  Gaillard,  Ilayne,  Holmes,  of  Me.,  Holmes,  of  Mississippi.  Johnson, 
Johnston,  Kelly,  King,  of  Ala.,  Lanman,  Lloyd,  of  Md.,  Lloyd,  of  Mass.,  Lowrio,  Mcllvaine, 
McLean,  Macon,  Mills,  Parrott,  Kuggles,  Seymour,  Smith,  Talbot,  Tazewell,  Thomas,  Van 
Burcn,  Van  Dyke,  and  Williams, — 38.  NAYS — Messrs.  Barton,  of  Missouri,  Branch,  of  North 
Carolina,  Chandler,  of  Maine,  and  Do  Wolf,  of  Rhode  Island — 4. — ED. 

•(•The  same  person  who,  afterwards,  whilst  Secretary  of  War,  negotiated  the  second,  or  "new" 
Creek  treaty — ED. 


2(54  ^IFE  OI<  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

if  possible.  On  the  17th  February,  certain  Chiefs  of  the 
friendly  Indians  met  the  Governor  in  his  office,  and  made 
an  address  to  him,  in  which  they  said  : 

"We  meet  you  to-day,  in  your  office,  to  express  our 
opinion  as  principal  chiefs  of  Coweta ;  which  expression 
we  have  considered  best  to  give  you  in  writing,  that  you 
may  know  when  we  act  contrary  to  our  talk.  Kighteen 
hundred  and  thirteen  was  the  beginning  of  the  hostile 
party,  and  General  Mclntosh  was  the  iirst  red  man  who 
joined  the  United  States,  and  spilt  his  blood  in  her  defence  ; 
at  that  time  we  were  warriors  under  General  Mclntosh, 
and  fought  for  our  country  ;  and,  after  peace  was  made, 
we  were  appointed  Chiefs  by  General  Mclntosh,  not  by 
Little  Prince  or  the  Big  Warrior;  then-fore  we  l»ve  <a'.d 
Mclntosh  until  death,  and  will  hold  last  to  his  talks,  because 
we  know  he  acts  agreeable  to  our  father's  talks,  and  by 
him  we  gain  our  protection  tVom  our  father  the  President. 
Looking  back  to  1S1."»,  we  believe  that  but  for  the  relations 
which  Mclntosh  sustained  to  the  United  States.  \ve  should 
have  lost  our  lands  without  getting  a  penny  for  them. 

FATIIKU:  At  the  late  treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs,  a  go.  .d 
many  hostiles,  as  usual,  objected  to  it.  If  that  party  should 
attempt  to  breed  a  disturbance  with  the  friendly  Indians, 
we  shall  inform  you  for  protection  ;  and  we  hope  you  will 
protect  us,  in  case  the  hostiles  should  intrude  on  us.  as  we 
look  for  protection  from  you.  as  we  have  been  tryin. 
gratify  the  wishes  of  our  father,  the  President.  We  hope 
he  loves  us  as  his  red  children  ;  and  we  hope  you  love  us 
as  friends  of  justice,  as  friends  of  good  order  and  friends  of 
harmony." 

Three  days  after,  they  again  addressed  the  Governor, 
and,  amongst  other  things,  said  : 

"  OTII  FATHER:  At  the  treaty  of  Broken  Arrow,  the  chiefs 
got  jealous  of  Mclntosh,  and  threatened  to  kill  him  ;  the 
charge  against  him  was  that  he  wanted  to  sell  land  to  the 
commissioners  of  the  United  States.  In  1824,  a  few  chiefs 
met  at  a  place  called  the  Pole  Cat  Springs,  and  passed  a 
law  that  if  any  person  should  sell  '.;r  offer  land  for  sale, 
guns  and  rope  should  be  their  end.  This  law  was  intended 
to  prevent  General  Mclntosh  from  selling  land;  but  it  was 
not  agreeable  to  the  laws  of  the  nation.  If  it  was  intended 
to  be  the  national  law,  it  ought  to  have  been  read  before 
the  national  chiefs,  and  let  them  determine  it — not  collect 
a  few  chiefs  to  make  a  law.  Could  an  individual  State 


CHAP.  X.]  INDIAN  CONFERENCE.  265 

pass  a  law  to  extend  all  over  the  United  States,  or  one 
county  make  and  enforce  a  law  for  the  government  of  the 
whole  State  ?  The  guns  and  rope  are  taken  from  the  pat- 
tern of  the  Cherokees.  Therefore  we  do  not  consider  it  a 
law  of  the  nation  to  be  enforced  ;  it  is  merely  law  among 
themselves  ;  but  those  who  signed  their  names  to  the  pat- 
tern of  the  Cherokees,  determine  to  execute  the  law.  This 
is  the  report  from  some  of  our  friends.  If  they  determine, 
we  are  ready  to  defend  ourselves,  and,  with  your  assistance, 
they  will  find  a  great  difference  in  numbers.  Our  charac- 
teristic disposition  is  to  treat  all  mankind  as  friends,  brothers 
and  relations.  We  determine  never  to  impose  on  any  man, 
but  treat  all  as  friends." 

It  appears,  by  the  Executive  Journal  of  that  date,  that  on 
the  19th  of  February,  several  of  the  Chiefs  of  the  Creek 
nation,  Gen.  Mclntosh  among  them,  went  to  the  Executive 
chamber  to  hold  a  "  talk "  with  the  Governor,  the  sub- 
stance of  which  was  that  they  had  consented  to  give  up 
their  lands  and  move  across  the  Mississippi — that  they 
expected,  before  they  left,  to  encounter  difficulties  and 
privations ;  notwithstanding  which,  they  were  willing  to 
listen  to  the  advice  of  their  great  father,  and  give  up  the 
lands  ;  but,  in  doing  this,  offence  had  been  given  to  some  of 
their  people  ;  and,  as  there  were  bad  white  men  among 
them,  who  were  endeavoring  to  stir  up  their  own  people  to 
do  them  harm ;  and,  more  especially,  as  the  Agent  was 
among  their  worst  enemies,  and  they  could  expect  no  pro- 
tection or  support  from  him,  they  wanted  to  know  whether 
they  could  be  certain  of  protection  from  the  government  of 
the  United  States,  and  from  that  of  Georgia,  &c.,  &c. — 
that  to  this  the  Governor  replied,  stating  the  happiness  he 
felt  at  their  determination  to  remove,  &c.,  &c. ;  that,  with 
regard  to  protection  against  their  own  people  who  were 
hostile,  or  against  the  whites,  he  had  no  doubt  the  Presi- 
dent would  afford  them  all  the  protection  their  situation 
might  require  ;  that,  as  to  the  State  of  Georgia,  they  should, 
so  far  as  depended  on  him,  find  protection  at  all  times ; 
and,  so  long  as  they  conducted  themselves  well,  the 
people  of  Georgia  would  be  ready  to  support  him  in  it,  with 
all  their  hearts  ;  for  they  had  for  a  long  time  been  the 


266  LIFE  OF  GEORGE   M.  TROFP.  [Ciur.  X. 

friends  of  Georgia  in  peace  and  Avar,  and  that  they  them- 
selves had  fought  and  bled  for  Georgia  in  the  last  war,  and 
that  the  Georgians  could  not  forget  them,  &c.,  Arc.  There 
was  some  further  talk  not  important  for  insertion  here— 
the  foregoing  being  generally  a  substantial,  and,  for  the 
most  part,  a  literal,  extract  in  an  the  Journal  referred  to. 

With  commendable  promptness,  the  Governor  dispatched 
one  of  his  Aids-de-camp,  Col.  Henry  G.  Lamar,  to  the 
Creek  country,  with  the  following  message  to  the  hostile 
Indians  : 


EXECUTIYI;    Dl  r.\RTM!M.  (il-MKLiA,  ) 

M  ;iled(jeville,mh  Feb.,  1825.    J 

In  consequence  of  the  apprehensions  expressed  in  a  talk 
delivered  by  the  friendly  Chiefs  of  the  Creek  Nation,  on 
the  l!)th  instant,  the  written  communication  delivered  at 
the  same  time,  and  another  on  the  'Jlst,  by  Etome  Tuste- 
nn^gee,  of  the  hostile  intentions  of  the  unfriendly  party  in 
said  Nation,  toward  Melntosli  and  his  friends,  in  conse- 
quence of  the  late  treaty;  arid,  in  compliance  with  the 
promises  given  them,  that  every  aid  should  be  afforded 
them  within  the  power  of  this  government,  it  is  thought 
proper  to  send  a  friendly  talk  to  the  Chiefs  of  Tookaubat- 
chee  and  Kussetau,  at  the  same  time  forewarning  them 
of  the  danger  to  which  they  will  expose  themselves  by  any 
outrage  committed  on  Mclntosh,  or  any  of  the  friendly 
Indians,  in  consequence  of  said  treaty.  Accordingly,  Col. 
Henry  G.  Lamar  is  dispatched  with  a  talk  to  said  hostile 
Chiefs,  in  the  following  words,  to  wit  : 
To  the  Chiefs  an<l  II<  <i<lmen  of 

Tookaubatchee  and  Kussetau: 

I  hear  bad  things  of  you.  You  threaten  Mclntosh  and 
his  people,  because  they  listened  to  their  father,  the  Presi- 
dent, and  ceded  the  lands  to  the  Georgians.  They  acted 
like  good  and  dutiful  children.  You  opposed  yourselves  to 
the  wishes  of  your  great  father,  who  was  doing  the  best 
for  the  interest  of  his  red  people,  and  would  not  sign  the 
treaty.  But  this  you  did,  as  I  believe,  under  the  influence 
of  bad  men,  who  pretended  to  be  your  friends,  but  who 
cared  nothing  about  you.  Now  I  tell  you,  take  care  and 
walk  straight.  Mclntosh  and  his  people  are  under  my 
protection,  as  well  as  under  the  protection  of  the  United 
States.  If  any  harm  is  done  by  you,  or  any  of  your  people, 
to  Mclntosh  or  his  people,  I  will  treat  you  in  the  same  way 


CHAP.  X.]  INSTRUCTIONS  TO   COL.   LAMAR.  26 7 

as  if  you  were  to  come  into  our  white  settlements  and  do 
the  like.  I  will  pursue  you  until  I  have  full  satisfaction. 
Do  not  let  bad  men  persuade  you  that  because  you  live  in 
and  near  to  Alabama,  you  will  be  safe.  If  you  commit  one 
act  of  hostility  on  this  side  the  line,  I  will  follow  and  punish 
you.  But  I  hope  there  will  be  no  occasion  for  this,  and  that 
you  will  take  counsel  of  wise  and  good  men,  and  so  conduct 
yourselves  for  the  future,  as  to  receive  the  approbation  and 
protection  of  your  father,  the  President,  and  that  I  also 
may  look  upon  you  as  friends  and  treat  you  accordingly. 
This  message  will  be  delivered  to  you  by  my  Aid-de-camp, 
Col.  Lamar. 

G.  M.  TROUP, 
Governor  of  Georgia. 

In  his  instructions  to  Colonel  Lamar,  the  Governor, 
amongst  other  things,  said  : 

From  the  moment  of  the  ratification,  the  territory  will  be 
considered  as  belonging  to  Georgia,  in  all  respects,  excepting 
merely  the  temporary  occupancy  of  the  Indians,  and  any 
act  of  disorder  or  violence  committed  there,  will  be  treated 
as  committed  within  the  actual  jurisdiction  of  the  State, 
and,  of  course,  the  Indians  committing  it,  pursued  and 
punished  wheresoever  they  may  go. 

You  will  meet  them  with  friendly  dispositions  :  say  to 
them,  in  accordance  with  the  spirit  of  the  message  which 
you  carry,  that  it  is  the  settled  opinion  of  all  the  wise  and 
good  men  of  the  United  States,  that  the  Indians,  looking  to 
nothing  but  their  own  interest,  present  and  future,  ought 
to  move,  without  delay,  beyond  the  Mississippi.  They  al- 
ready know  this  to  be  the  advice  of  their  great  father. 
They  will  soon  know  it  to  be  the  advice  of  his  great  coun- 
cil, the  Congress.  None  but  bad  men,  hostile  to  their  true 
interests,  will  ever  advise  them  to  the  contrary.  You  will 
take  with  you  the  published  documents,  showing  the  views  of 
the  President  in  relation  to  the  conduct  of  both  the  Agent* 

*  In  his  report,  of  Sth  January,  to  the  War  Department,  written  at  Washington  City, 
Col.  Campbell,  speaking  of  the  failure  of  negotiations  at  Broken  Arrow,  attributed  the  failure 
to  certain  unfavorable  influences  which  had  been  procfuced  by  (amongst  others,)  John  Ross,  a 
Cherokee  Chief,  and  Walker,  th™  sub-Agent  of  Indian  Affairs  These  influences  caused  a  meet- 
ing of  a  portion  of  the  Creeks  at  Tookaubatchee,  in  May,  and  at  Pole  Cat  Springs,  in  November, 
1824.  At  the  former,  a  resolution  was  passed  to  "  follow  the  pattern  of  the  Cherokees, 
and,  on  no  account  whatever,  to  consent  to  sell  one  foot  of  land,  neither  by  exchange  nor 
otherwise,"  and  "  this  meeting  was  attended  exclusively  by  Chiefs  within  the  Alabama  limits." 
Referring  to  the  proceedings  at  these  meetings, Col.Campbell said  :  "Of  the  existence  of  these 
proceedings,  by  which  the  question  was  prejudged,  and  the  commission  forestalled,  we  had  no 
knowledge  until  we  obtained  it  casually  on  our  way  to  the  treaty.  Under  these  disadvantages 
the  negotiation  was  commenced  ;  and  the  journal  of  our  proceedings,  herewith  furnished,  wil  1 


268  UI'H  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROIT.  [i'nxr.  X. 

and  Cher.ikoes  at  Broken  Arrow,  the  indignation  with 
which  lie  viewed  their  conduct,  and,  of  course,  the  indig- 
nation with  which  he  will  regard  the  conduct  of  the  Indians 
hostile  to  the  treaty,  if  they  do  not  in  future  deport  them- 
selves as  men  deserving  his  love  and  friendship  :  and 
another  paper.  lc—  authentic,  but  not  altogether  nnotlicial, 
taken  from  the  National  .Journal,  in  which  they  will 
that  the  Indians  west  of  the  ]\Ii»issippi,  without  foreknow- 
ledge of  the  views  or  plans  of  the  President,  have  adopted 
the  same  views,  and  are  concerting  the  same  mea-r.res  for 
bringing  all  the  Indians  together  on  the  west  of  the  M 
sippi ;  and  that  soon,  very  soon,  they  will  all  go  :  BO  that  a 
red  man  will  not  be  seen  between  the  Mississippi  and  the 
lake-. 

Pursuant  to  his  instructions.  Col.  Lainar  proceeded  im- 
mediately to  the  Creek  country.  He  \i>ited  the  towns  of 
Kussetau  and  Tookanbatchee,  held  a  talk  with  the  Indian-, 
endeavored  to  compose  the  excited  feelings  of  the  discon- 
tented, <fcc.,  &c.  On  the  loth  "f  March,  he  made  a  report 
to  the  Governor,  but  we  can  copy  only  the  concluding  part, 
as  follows : 

"My  own  opinion,  which  is  partly  conjectural,  and  in 
part  formed  from  observation  and  conversations  had  with 
some  of  the  Indians,  is  this — leave  them  to  themselves — if 
they  clearly  understand  what  are  the  wishes  of  the  1'ivsi- 
dent,  they  will  conform  to  them.  1  speak  of  them  collect- 
ively, as  a  people.  They  have  no  correct  notion-;  of  our 
government  and  their  relative  connection  with  it.  Their 
conclusion  is,  that  the  powers  of  the  President  arc  absolute, 
and  that  he  has  an  unquestionable  right  to  coerce  obedience. 
But,  independent  of  this  notion  of  tear,  the  unlimited  con- 
fidence reposed  in  the  wisdom  and  virtue  of  the  President, 

-  -how.  to  Mini'-  extent,  the  manner  in  whieh  i:  was  pursue.!. 

depeiii  1- 'lit  solely  up. in  their  own  exertions.     Th'-v   il'-i  iveil  M..  :ii.l  I'mm  the   principal    ' 
:uul  eneoiintorea  the  perfidious  opposition   (,f  l,is  a-istant."    On  the  i:;th   January,  Mi.c.-il- 
noun,  the  Secretary  «f  War.  writing  to  Col.  Campl.ell.   and   rcferri  telnet  of  the 

-aid :     "It  wa-  n..t  douhted  l>y  tlie  Department  luit  tlmt  lie  wmiM  .  iierato 

in  etVivtin^tlie  ul.j.'i-t  of  tli-  iT'iMTiitneiit   in    aiitlioviziii'.'   the  trrnty  to  !«•  ):, M.     It    :. 
however.  ]>\  tlie  reprirt,  that  the   '  •!  to  inforni  yuii  i.l'  tin-  jirevi..!!-:  nieetii. 

:i  "f  tli,.  Civ.  :   .  !.:uil.:iti'li"<«  anil  the  I'ole  Cat  Springs,  \\lii.  h  li:i.l  -o  material 

;x  l'eariiitL'  mi  the  negotiation :  an<l  that  the  C(iiiiiiii--ioiier-  had  to  rely  .-.  lely  upon  their  own 
exertion^,  without  aid  from  the  A^'ont.  >vln>  ai-itined  a  neutral  p,i-iti..:1.  It  :i\-o  :ippe.-ir~.  from 
the  journal,  that,  in  the  opinion  of  th"  Cumim-ion.  r-.  the  <  I  -ledl.y 

the  Ohrtokeei,  and  .  ,-.    it  is  the  <'.' 

the  President,  liefoiv  1,,-  m  ;,,„  ,.,,  n,,.  ,-,,M,-,u.-t  <.!'  the  A    .  nt.  to  he  put  in  fill!  JM.-. 

D  of  :,11  the  fa.t-  ainl  rliviiiii-t.-iur,  -  whi.  h   may  enable  him  to   I'.irm    a  corivct  ..j.inion  a~ 
•ndiiet  and  motive,,  in  withholdin  .—En. 


CHAP.  X.]  LETTER  FROM  CHILLY  M'INTOSH.  269 

is  a  sure  guaranty  of  the  successful  accomplishment  of  his 
wishes.  In  order  to  destroy  the  effects  of  this  influence,  I 
discover  that  the  belief  has  been  imposed  upon  them,  (at 
least  to  some  extent,)  that  the  Commissioners,  being  Geor- 
gians, were  only  subserving  the  interest  and  wishes  of 
Georgia.  There  are  a  number  of  white  men  settled  among 
them,  who  heretofore  looked  with  pleasure  on  their  pros- 
pects of  enjoying  the  benefits  of  a  permanent  location,  who 
have  acquired  their  confidence  by  the  connections  they  have 
formed,  and  I  have  no  doubt  that  their  influence  is  secretly 
exerted  to  excite  discontent,  and  inculcate  opinions  adverse 
to  the  interest  of  Georgia  and  the  policy  of  the  General 
Government.  There  is  another  prevailing  feeling  among 
them.  They  indulge  the  belief,  should  they  move  beyond 
the  Mississippi,  that  a  perpetual  warfare  with  the  tribes  in- 
habiting that  country  would  be  the  inevitable  consequence. 
You  will  discover  in  my  talk  to  them,  with  the  view  to 
produce  a  complete  reconciliation,  I  endeavored  to  refute 
that  opinion.  If  the  treaty  is  ratified,  I  have  no  doubt  that 
all  clamor  will  cease  ;  for,  in  proportion  as  they  understand 
the  wishes  of  the  President,  and  the  course  of  conduct  our 
government  adopts  towards  them,  in  the  same  degree  will 
all  other  influence  be  diminished.  Added  to  this,  what  has 
been  done,  was  done,  no  doubt,  with  the  view  to  prevent 
its  ratification.  The  cause,  therefore,  which  produced  the 
excitement,  will  cease  to  exist  after  that  desirable  object  is 
accomplished." 

It  is  proper  also  to  remark  that  Ho-poth-le-Yoholo  and 
Little  Prince,  then  the  principal  men  of  Tookaubatchee  and 
Kussetau,  both  denied  to  Col.  Lamar  any  hostility  to  M'Intosh 
and  the  other  friendly  Indians,  for  having  signed  the  treaty. 

But  there  were  secret  and  malign  influences  at  work, 
which  it  was  not  in  the  power  of  the  Governor  to  coun- 
teract successfully.  A  week  after  penning  his  instructions 
to  Col.  Lamar,  he  received  the  following  letter  : 

NEAVNAN,  3d  March,  1825. 

Governor:  I  take  the  authority  to  inform  you,  since  we 
left  you  we  haven't  got  home  in  consequence  of  thehostiles. 
I  met  my  friends  at  Flint  Eiver,  Mr.  Miller  and  A.  Tus- 
tunnuggee,  and  they  tell  me  that  they  run  them  off — threat- 
ened to  kill  them — cut  their  throats  and  set  up  their  heads 
by  the  road  for  a  show — they  are  determined  to  die  on  their 
owrn  country,  and  they  have  appointed  men  to  kill  seven 


270  r'IFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

Chiefs,  Gen.  Mclntosh,  myself,  Joseph  Marshall,  Samuel 
Hawkins,  James  Island,  Etome  Tnstnnnnggee  ami  Col.  Mil- 
ler. Since  the  treaty,  the  hostile  party  have  been  in  council 
a  second  time  at  Broken  Arrow,  and  are  now  at  Took a u - 
batchee,  holding  a  council — they  have  not  broke  up  yet. 
We  understand  they  have  sent  a  memorial  <>n  to  the  Presi- 
dent not  to  interfere  with  them  or  assist  us — to  let  them 
settle  it  among  themselves.  No  doubt  they  are  determined 
to  destroy  us  if  they  can.  Myself  and  father  parted  at  the 
Indian  Springs,  on  our  way  home — since  I  heard  the  news, 
I  have  dispatched  a  runner  to  him,  not  to  stay  one  moment 
at  home,  but  to  meet  me  at  this  place.  Excuse  my  hand- 
wiiting.  This  is  not  half  I  know,  but  the  bearer  of  this  is 
in  a  hurry. 

I  remain  your  son, 

Cim.i.v  MrI.\Tos:i. 
His  Excellency  G.  M.  Troup. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  writer  of  the  above. 
Chilly  Mclutosh,  was  the  son  of  General  William  Mclntosh, 
head  Chief  of  the  Cowetas  and  that  all  the  threatened 
Chiefs  above  named,  belonged  to  the  Mclntosh  or  friendly 
party — several  of  them  having  signed  the  treaty.  The 
Governor,  in  his  reply,  dated  5th  March,  said  : 

"  Your  letter  of  the  3d  came  safe  to  me  this  moment. 
I  am  sorry  to  hear  that  the  hostiles  continue  to  be  such 
fools  and  madmen.  They  will  soon  be  taught  better.  If 
they  do  not  listen  to  my  talks  sent  by  Col. "~  La  mar.  I  will 
send  a  military  force  to  the  line,  to  keep  them  in  order  and 
punish  offenders.  Col.  Lamar  left  this  I'm-  lCu>setau  and 
Tookaubatchee  last  Sunday,  the  27th  February.  Hi- 
must  have  arrived  at  the  council  before  this.  It  is  as  I  told 
yon  it  would  be;  the  hostiles  have  been  set  on  by  bad 
white  men.  I  hope  your  father  will  keep  out  of  their  way 
until  they  are  brought  to  their  senses." 

The  following  letter  was  written  by  Gen.  Mclntosh  to  the 
Governor : 

CIIA.TTAHOOCHEE,  29th  March,  18-25. 
To  His  Excellency  G.  M.  Troup  : 

Sir:  I  take  the  liberty  of  sending  Samuel  Hawkins  to 
you,  seeing  in  the  newspapers  your  proclamation  stating 
that  the  treaty  was  ratified  by  tin;  President  and  Senate. 
We  see  in  the  papers,  also,  where  Crowell  had  wrote  to  the 


CHAP.  X.]        CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  GEN.  M'INTOSH.  271 

Department  that  Chiefs  of  the  lowest  grade  had  signed  the 
treaty,  and  we  see  where  he  says  there  will  be  hostilities 
with  us  if  the  United  States  sign  the  treaty.  We  are  not 
any  ways  in  danger  until  he  comes  home  and  commences 
hostility,  and  urges  it  himself  on  us.  If  the  treaty  is  rati- 
fied, if  you  can  let  Samuel  Hawkins  have  two  thousand 
dollars,  or  stand  his  security  in  the  Bank  to  that  amount, 
we  will  send  men  on  now  to  look  at  the  country  to  try  to 
move  away  this  fall ;  the  money,  if  loaned  to  us,  will  be 
paid  back  as  soon  as  the  money  comes  on  to  pay  the  first 
payment  of  the  treaty. 

Any  information  that  you  can  give  him  will  be  satisfac- 
tory to  us. 

Your  dear  friend,  &c., 

WILLIAM  MC!NTOSH. 

The  same  day,  Governor  Troup  wrote  to  Mclntosh,  as 
follows : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
Milled geville,  29^  March,  1825. 

Dear  General :  You  will  have  seen  by  my  proclamation 
of  the  21st  inst,  that  I  have  resolved,  in  fulfilment  of  the 
stipulations  of  the  treaty,  to  maintain  inviolate  all  your 
rights  reserved  by  it,  so  that  you  suffer  no  detriment  or  loss 
by  the  trespasses  or  intrusions  of  the  whites  as  long  as  you 
continue  to  occupy  the  country. 

It  is  important  that  the  territory  acquired  by  the  late 
treaty  should  be  organized  as  speedily  as  possible,  consist- 
ently with  the  provisions  of  that  instrument ;  and,  not 
doubting  that  your  assent  will  be  given  to  the  survey  of  it 
before  your  removal,  I  have  dispatched  a  messenger  to  you, 
that  your  resolution  may  be  communicated  to  me  without 
delay.  It  is  not  presumed  that  the  least  inconvenience  can 
result  to  you  from  this  measure.  Besides  iny  own  deter- 
mination to  cause  the  rights  of  the  Indians  to  be  respected 
in  their  persons  and  property  at  all  times,  there  will  be  a 
future  and  ample  security  and  protection  in  the  selection  of 
the  officers  who  shall  be  charged  with  the  duty  of  running 
the  lines,  who  shall  be  responsible,  not  only  that  no  depre- 
dations are  committed  by  themselves,  but  that  none  shall 
be  committed  by  others,  without  their  giving  prompt  notice 
to  the  lawful  authorities,  so  that  the  offenders  may  be  brought 
to  justice. 

You  will  understand  that  there  is  no  intention  on  my 
part  to  hurry  your  departure ;  the  period  of  this  will  be 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CiiAi-.  X. 

left  to  your  considerations  of  interest  and  convenience  un- 
der the  treaty  ;  but  as  the  survey  is  a  work  of  time,  this 
time  can  be  saved  to  us;  so  that,  having  completed  it,  noth- 
ing will  remain  but  to  occupy  and  settle  the  country  after 
you  shall  have  left  it.  I  wish  you  by  all  means  to  give  me 
your  final  answer  by  this  express,  that  I  may  know  what 
measures  it  will  become  my  duty  to  adopt. 

Your  friend, 

Gen.  William  Mclntosh,  (i.  M.  TROIT. 

Creek  Nation. 

The  following  is  the  reply  to  Mclntosh's  letter : 

K\K<TTI\  r.   I)I:I'.\I;TMI-:\ T,  ) 

.)////<  •> A/,  r //A?,  4th  April,  1825.    f 

Dear  General  :  1  have  received  your  letter  of  tin-.  ij!»th 
ult.,  by  Col.  Hawkins.  There  will  be  no  danger  of  any 
hostility  in  consequence  of  the  ratification  of  the  treaty. 
You  will  find  everything  going  on  peaceably  and  quietly. 
If  bad  white  men  intermeddle  to  stir  up  strifes  and  excite 
bad  passions  among  the  Indians,  I  will  have  them  punished. 
The  President  will  do  the  same.  My  agent  has  reported 
that  the  Indians  opposed  to  the  treaty  are  quite  friendly  ; 
that  they  think  of  no  mischief;  that  they  love  you,  and 
will  do  whatever  their  father,  the  President-,  advises.  The 
Senate  ratified  the  treaty,  without  any  difficulty,  although 
the  Agent  was  opposed  to  it.  I  write,  this  morning,  to  the 
United  States  Commissioners,  to  furnish  you  with  the  ne- 
cessary funds  to  enable  your  Commissioners  to  explore  the 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  so  that  you  may  make 
your  arrangements  to  move  during  the  next  fall.  As  soon 
as  I  hear  from  them,  you  shall  know  it.  I  wish  you  to 
inform  me,  as  early  as  possible,  of  your  resolution  about 
the  running  and  survey  of  the  country,  as  mentioned  in 
my  letter  by  express. 

You  will  have  seen,  by  my  proclamation,  that  I  have  de- 
termined the  Indians  shall  suffer  no  loss  or  injury  from  our 
white  people,  if  I  can  help  it.  It  is  intended  to  guard  them 
against  those  people  whom  they  will  themselves  consider 
as  trespassers  and  intruders;  and  not  to  prevent,  white 
people  from  going  into  the  Xation,  with  honest  intentions, 
to  make  purchase  of  stock  or  property  of  any  kind  which 
you  can  lawfully  dispose  of;  all  such  persons  will  he  suifered 
to  pass  and  repass  without  molestation.  We  will  endeavor, 
too,  to  appoint  good  and  honest  men  for  our  Surveyors,  so 


CHAP.  X.]  CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  McINTOSH.  273 

that  they  will  do  no  harm  themselves,  and  suffer  none  done 
to  the  Indians. 

Your  friend, 

Gen.  "William  Mclntosh,  G.  M.  TEOUP. 

Creek  Nation. 
Mclntosh  wrote  again,  on  the  6th,  as  follows  : 

ACOKN  BLUFF,  6th  April,  1825. 
Governor  Troup  : 

Dear  Sir :  I  received  your  letter  of  the  29th  March, 
by  the  hands  of  your  messenger,  which  gave  me  plea- 
sure to  get.  On  the  10th  of  this  month  the  Chiefs  will 
be  here,  when  I  will  lay  your  letter  before  them,  after 
which  I  will  inform  you  what  we  shall  agree  to  without 
delay.  When  this  meeting  is  held,  if  we  agree  to  the  run- 
ning of  the  lands,  it  is  my  wisli  that  the  Surveyors  should 
get  their  support  from  the  red  people. 
I  am,  dear  sir, 

Yours  with  respect, 

WILLIAM  MC!NTOSII. 

On  the  9th,  the  Governor  again  wrote  to  Mclntosh, 
sending  an  express,  the  next  day,  to  learn  the  deliberations 
of  the  Council,  and  also  to  inform  the  General  that  the 
money  asked  as  an  advance  for  the  exploration  of  the 
country  west  of  the  Mississippi,  would  be  ready  whenever 
sent  for  through  an  authorized  agent,  &c. 

Mclntosh  replied,  on  the  12th  of  April,  to  the  Governor's 
letters  of  29th  March  and  ith  April.  After  referring  to 
the  supposed  friendly  feelings  of  the  Indians  who  opposed 
the  treaty,  and  the  danger  to  which  the  friendly  party 
might  be  exposed,  as  well  as  the  disposition  of  the  Governor 
and  the  President  to  protect  them,  he  said  : 

"  I  have  been,  however,  at  some  loss  in  making  up  my 
mind,  and  must  confess  to  you  the  embarrassment  I  have 
labored  under.  Ever  since  the  President  of  the  United 
States  has  had  agents  residing  among  us,  we  have  univer- 
sally considered  it  our  duty  to  consult  him  on  all  important 
matters  that  relate  to  the  General  Government  or  the  gov- 
ernment of  any  particular  State,  considering  him  the  legal 
and  proper  organ  through  whom  all  official  correspondence 
should  pass,  in  relation  to  our  interests  appertaining  to  the 
treaties  made  with  our  nation  and  the  United  States. 
Some  differences  existing  between  the  present  Agent-of  the 
35 


274:  LIFE  OF  GEORGE    M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

Creek  nation  and  myself,  and  not  having  any  confidence  in 
his  advice,  I  have  determined  to  act  according  to  the  dictates 
of  my  best  judgment,  which  results  in  the  determination  to 
agree  to  the  request  of  your  Excellency,  in  giving  my  con- 
sent, and,  in  behalf  of  the  nation  who  signed  the  treaty, 
their  consent  that  the  land  lately  ceded  to  the  United 
States,  at  the  Indian  Springs,  may  be  run  off  and  surveyed 
whenever  you  may,  or  the  General  Government,  think 
proper  to  do  so.  If  the  general  government  of  the  United 
States  have  no  objection,  and  the  Agent  of  the  Creek  na- 
tion, with  the  party  he  influences,  does  not  make  any 
objection  or  opposition  to  running  and  surveying  the  land. 
myself  and  the  Chiefs  and  Indian-,  who  were  in  favor  of 
the  late  treaty,  do  not  object.  We  give  our  consent." 

At  the  same  time,  Mclntosh  wrote  to  the  Governor,  send- 
ing a  memorial  of  Chiefs  to  the  Legislature,  requesting  that 
it  be  laid  before  the  General  Assembly,  &c.  It  abounded 
in  expressions  of  good  will,  and  was  called  their  "  la  t  ami 
farewell  address."  Although  too  long  for  transcription,  we 
cannot  omit  the  following  excerpts  : 

"  The  country  which  you  now  possess,  and  that  which 
we  now  remain  on,  was  by  the  Great  Spirit  originally  given 
to  his  red  children.  Our  brothers,  the  white  men,  vi>ited 
us  when  we  were  like  the  trees  of  the  forest.  Our  fore- 
fathers smoked  the  pipe  of  peace  and  friendship  with  the 
forefathers  of  the  white  man,  and  when  the  white  man  said, 
we  wish  to  live  with  the  red  man  and  inhabit  the  same 
country,  we  received  their  presents,  and  said,  welcome ;  we 
will  give  you  land  for  yourselves  and  for  your  children. 
We  took  the  white  man  by  the  hand,  and  held  fast  to  it. 
We  became  neighbors,  and  the  children  of  the  white  man 
grew  up,  and  the  children  of  the  red  man  grew  up  in  the 
same  country,  and  we  were  brothers.  The  white  men  be- 
came numerous  as  the  trees  of  the  forest,  and  the  red  men 
became  like  the  buffalo.  Friends  and  Brothers :  You 
are  like  the  mighty  storm;  we  are  like  the  tender  and 
bending  tree  ;  we  must  bow  before  you  ;  you  have  torn  us 
UD  by  the  roots,  but  still  you  are  our  brothers  and  friends. 
TLOU  have  promised  to  replant  us  in  a  better  soil,  and  to 
watch  over  us  and  nurse  us.  *  The  day 

is  come  when  we  surrender  the  country  of  our  forefathers — 
land  of  our  nativity  ;  our  homes,  the  places  of  our  youthful 
diversions.  We  surrender  it  to  our  brothers  and  friends, 
and  our  hearts  are  glad  that  we  are  not  forced  to  do  so  by 


CHAP.  X.]  LETTERS  TO  McINTOSH.  275 

our  enemies.     We  go  ;  our  people  will  seek  new  lands ;  our 
hearts  remain  with  you." 

The  memorial  was  signed  by  Mclntosh  and  fifteen  other 
Chiefs. 

The  Governor  replied  as  follows  : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,      ) 
Milledgemlle,  \Qth  April,  1825.  ) 

Dear  General :  Your  two  letters,  of  the  12th  instant, 
have  lost  been  received,  by  which  it  is  made  known  to  me, 
that,  in  council,  you  have  given  your  consent  to  the  survey 
of  the  lands.  1  our  memorial  to  the  Legislature  will  be 
presented,  according  to  your  request,  and  the  notice  you 
wish  published,  in  relation  to  purchases  of  property  of  any 
kind,  improvements,  &c.,  &c.,  will,  in  the  same  words  as 
you  have  written,  be  printed  in  our  next  papers. 

I  hope  that  you  will  meet  the  Little  Prince  and  council, 
in  good  friendship.  I  wish  to  see  you  all  united  in  brother- 
ly affection  before  you  move,  and  am  convinced  the  Presi- 
dent desires  the  same. 

Your  friend,  G.  M.  TKOUP. 

Gen.  William  Mclntosh,  Creek  Nation. 

In  his  letter  of  12th  April,  from  which  we  have  already 
quoted,  Mclntosh  had  written  to  the  Governor  : 

"  I  have  this  moment  received  notification  from  the 
Little  Prince,  inviting  me  and  the  chiefs  in  this  quarter,  to 
attend  a  meeting  of  the  nation  at  Broken  Arrow,  on  the 
19th  instant.  My  own  health  will  not  permit  me,  probably, 
to  attend  the  meeting  in  person,  but  all  of  my  Chiefs  will  go. 
I  have  determined,  if  my  health  permits,  to  accompany  the 
delegation  to  the  Western  country,  in  our  exploring  tour, 
so  soon  as  we  receive  the  money  which  we  desired  you  to 
obtain  for  us  through  the  Commissioners." 

The  following  correspondence  explains  itself: 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  18th  April,  1825. 

Dear  General :  In  one  of  your  late  letters,  you  say  some- 
thing about  the  consent  of  the  United  States,  or  if  the  agent 
and  the  hostiles  do  not  make  opposition.  Pray,  explain  to 
me  your  meaning.  We  have  nothing  to  do  with  the 
United  States,  or  the  agent,  or  the  hostiles,  in  this  matter; 
all  we  want  is  the  consent  of  the  friendly  Indians  who  made 
the  treaty.  If  we  wanted  the  consent  of  the  United  States, 
we  could  ask  it. 

Your  friend,  G.  M.  TEOUP. 

Gen.  William  Mclntosh,  Creek  Nation. 


276  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [C'li.vr.  X. 

CREEK  NATION,  25th  April,  1825. 

Dear  Sir :  I  received  your  Excellency's  request,  yester- 
day, dated  the  18th  inst.,  and  hereby  state  to  yon  that  my 
only  meaning  was  not  to  act  contrary  to  stipulations  made 
between  our  nation  and  the  United  States  government ; 
and  we  do  hereby,  absolutely,  freely  and  fully,  give  <>m- 
consent  to  the  State  of  Georgia,  to  have  the  boundary  be- 
longing to  said  State  surveyed  at  any  time  the  Legislature 
of  Georgia  may  think  proper,  which  was  ceded  at  the  late 
treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs. 

Signed  in  behalf  of  the  Nation,  and  by  the  consent  of  the 
Chiefs  of  the  same. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be,  sir,  with  great  esteem, 

Yours  respectfully, 

WII.I.IAM  Mrl.vrosir. 
His  Excellency  Geo.  M.  Troup. 

The  writing  of  this  letter  was  one  of  the  last  acts  of 
Mclntosh.  On  the  night  of  the  i;l»th  or  the,  morning  ot  the 
30th  of  April,  he  was  cruelly  murdered,  at  his  own  house 
on  the  Chattahoochee,  by  a  band  of  the  hostile  Indians. 
Tome  (or  Etome)  Tustunnuggee,  an  old  chief  of  Coweta, 
shared  the  same  fate ;  and  Samuel  Hawkins,  son-in-law  of 
Mclntosh,  perished  some  hours  later.  Chilly  Mclntosh 
escaped,  by  jumping  through  a  window,  and  iled,  with  the 
news,  to  the  Governor.  Gen.  Ware  wrote,  as  follows,  to 
Gov.  Troup  : 

LINE  CREEK,  Fayctte  County,  Ga., 

May  1st,  i> 

Gov.  Troup :  The  information  you  have  no  doubt  re- 
ceived by  Chilly  Mclntosh  and  other  Indians,  will  be 
confirmed  by  the  following  relation  of  the  circumstances 
attending  the  horrid  transaction  on  the  Chattahoochee  and 
Tallapoosa,  in  the  Creek  nation.  On  the  morning  of  the 
30th  April,  several  neighbors  of  mine  who  lodged  on  the 
bank  of  the  Chattahoochee,  this  side  of  Mclntosh's,  about 
day-break  heard  the  war-whoop,  and  they  suppose  from 
two  to  four  hundred  guns  were  tired — the  houses  were  on 
fire  when  they  set  off.  An  intelligent  Indian,  Col.  Miller, 
who  has  fled  to  my  house,  together  with  about  150  others, 
states  that  he  supposes  there  are  upwards  of  It  MI  warriors  of 
the  hostile  party  embodied  on  the  Chattahoocliec,  at  Mcln- 
tosh's, feasting  on  all  the  cattle  they  can  find,  hogs,  &C., 


CHAP.  X.]  MURDER  OF  McINTOSH,  &c.  277 

belonging  to  the  friendly  party — states,  also,  that  they  have 
taken  Macintosh's  negroes  and  all  other  property  they  can 
find — they,  he  states,  intend  marching  toward  the  settle- 
ment of  the  whites  in  three  days.  In  this  I  am  a  little 
incredulous ;  though,  as  far  as  the  resources  of  our  country 
will  afford,  I  will  be  prepared.  Major  Finley  Stewart  is 
collecting  some  volunteers  to  go  out  and  reconnoitre  the 
country  ;  he  will  set  oif  as  soon  as  practicable.  He,  Col. 
Miller,  supposes,  including  numbers  long  cloaked  under 
th.3  garb  of  friendship,  who,  since  the  death  of  Mclntosh, 
have  joined  the  hostile  party,  that  the  hostile  party  in  the 
nation  largely  exceeds  4000  warriors,  and  that  the  friendly 
party  amounts  now  to  only  500.  They  implore  protection 
— they  need  it — they  are  constantly  coming  in — say  the 
road  is  covered  with  others. 

Yours  respectfully,  ALEXANDER  WAKE. 

Some  provision  ought  to  be  made  to  supply  those  ref- 
ugees with  food.  A.  W. 

Governor  Troup  addressed  the  following  letter  to  the 
President : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
Milledgeville,  3d  May,  1825. 

Sir:  Yesterday,  Chilly  Mclntosh,  son  of  the  General, 
and  bearer  of  this,  came  with  other  Chiefs  to  announce  the 
death  of  his  father.  On  the  night  of  the  29th  ult,  whilst 
reposing  in  his  bed,  the  savages  hostile  to  the  treaty,  in 
great  numbers  beset  and  fired  his  house,  and  this  chieftain, 
whose  virtues  would  have  honored  any  country,  perished 
by  the  flames  or  tomahawk.  The  old  Chief  of  Coweta, 
who  was  pursued  with  the  same  vengeance,*  and  for  the 
same  objects,  perished  with  him.  The  crime  of  Mclntosh 
and  Tustunnuggee  is  to  be  sought  in  the  wise  and  magnani- 
mous conduct  which,  at  the  Indian  Springs,  produced  the 
treaty  of  the  12th  of  February,  and  which,  in  making  a 
concession  of  their  whole  country,  satisfied  the  just  claims 
of  Georgia,  reconciled  the  State  to  the  Federal  Government, 
and  made  happy,  at  least  in  prospect,  the  condition  of  the 
Creeks.  When,  by  the  last  of  his  generous  actions,  he  had 

*  Those  who  desire  to  gee  a  detailed  statement  of  these  murders,  are  referred  to  the  letter 
of  Col.  A.  J.  Pickett,  of  Alabama,  in  White's  Historical  Collections,  pp.  170,  171,  172,  and 
173.  It  seems  that  the  body  of  Mclntosh  was  not  burned,  but  that  his  scalp,  "  which  was 
suspended  upon  a  pole  in  the  public  square  of  Ocfuskee,  (a  Creek  Town  on  the  Tallapoosa 
River,)  was  the  spectacle  of  old  and  young,  who  danced  around  it,  with  shouts  of  joy";  and 
.  that  Tustunnuggee  and  Hawkins  were  also  scalped,  and  their  scalps  carried  to  the  Talla- 
poosa.— ED. 


278  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

irivon  his  consent,  in  union  with  his  Council,  to  the  survey 
and  appropriation  of  the  country,  only  to  gratify  the  wishes 
of  the  Georgians,  and  was  on  the  eve  of  departure  to  ex- 
plore the  new  home,  where  the  future  fortunes  of  all  were 
to  abide,  he  met  the  stroke  of  the  assassin,  and  the  bravest 
of  his  race  fell  by  the  hands  of  the  most  treacherous  and 
cowardly.  The  guilty  authors  of  this  mas-acre  it  will  be 
for  you  to  detect  and  punish.  I  have  done  my  duty. 

You  will  soon  read,  in  my  official  correspondence  with 
your  government,  the  Indians  and  the  Commissioners,  the 
beginning,  the  progress,  and  the  end  of  this  frightful 
tragedy,  in  which  the  catastrophe  -was  foreseen,  of  which, 
ever  and  anon,  the  goyernment  of  the  I'uited  States  was 
distinctly  forewarned,  which  by  the  breath  of  its  nostrils 
might  have  been  averted,  but  trhieh  WM  not  averted.  In 
despite  of  every  thing  attempted  to  the  contrary,  I  had 
before  succeeded  in  maintaining  peace.  K\en  now,  at  the 
very  moment  I  write,  a  IIM  •  :'  which  you  have  a 

copy,  is  dispatched  to  the  surviving  Chiefs  to  forbear  hos- 
tility.    I  believe  the  advice  will  be;  taken  as  an  order;  but, 
it  is  my  duty  to  inform  you,  that  to  keep  this  peace  !<• 
than    I  can    hear    from    you,    will    be    impo»ible  to  any 
efforts  of  yours  or  mine,  unless  the  most  ample  satisfaction 
and   atonement  shall   be  made   promptly    for  the  death  of 
Mclntosh  and  his  friend."-"     The  Legislature  will  convene 
in  a  lew  days,  and  on   this  account  I  have  deferred  any 
measures,  either  of  retaliation  or  protection, 
With  great  respect  and  consideration, 

G.    M.   TUMI  I'. 

The  President  of  the  United  States, 
Washington  City. 

The  following  is  the  "Message  to  the  surviving  Chiefs," 
referred  to  in  the  preceding  letter  : 

K.XIKTTIVK    Dl.PAKTMI  NT,  ) 

Mlllottje.ville,  3d  May,  1825.      j 

Friend  :  I  heard  with  sorrow,  yesterday,  of  the  death  of 
our  common  friend,  Mclntosh.  All  good  hearts  among  the 
M-hites  deplore  it  as  much  as  you.  Satisfaction  will  be  de- 
manded, and  satisfaction  shall  be  had— but  we  must  not  be 
hasty  about  it.  We  will  be  cool  and  deliberate  in  the 

*   It  i*  ;i|>|i:irrut  from  llii-  :iii'l  otli.  :  in    ||,<>   li-tt.-r.  tlmt  tin-  <o.v,-nior  li:i.l  not 

th-n  liMir.I  of  tlir  <l<'atli  of  H;iwkin<— Chilly  Mdntc.-li  li.-ivin-  l.-tt  l>.-r..n-  tli-t  t..,,U  ].!.. 
'•von  )i(.f,iri-  the  IIIHIUHT  of  M  th  WM  liimun.  i!  K-in:;  i-li-ir  tliat 

noitlipr  uf  tin-in  ili.'il  l.y  ••  l\  ;;i\vk."—  Ki>. 


CHAP,  x.]  MILITARY  PREPARATION.  279 

measures  we  take,  and  then  we  will  be  certain  to  be  right. 
You  be  peaceable  and  quiet  until  you  hear  from  me,  in  the 
same  manner  as  if  nothing  had  happened  to  Mclntosh  or 
Tustunnuggee  ;  but  depend  on  it,  my  revenge  I  will  have 
• — it  will  be  such  as  we  have  reason  to  believe  the  Great 
Spirit  would  require — such  as  our  Christ  would  not  think 
too  much,  and  yet  so  much  that  I  trust  all  red  and  white 
men  will  be  content  with.  Mind  what  I  say  to  you  until 
you  hear  from  me. 

G.  M.  TKOUP. 
Col.  Joseph  Marshall, 

Creek  Nation. 
The  following  orders  were  promulged  on  the  5th : 

HEAD  QUARTERS,  Milledgeville,  5th  May,  1825. 
ORDERS. 

The  Commander-in-Chief  having  received  information  of 
the  existence  among  the  Creeks  of  the  most  frightful  an- 
archy and  disorder,  and  of  the  recent  massacre  of  General 
Mclntosh  and  the  old  Chief  of  Coweta,  within  the  actual 
limits  of  Georgia,  has  thought  proper  to  adopt  precaution- 
ary measures  without  delay,  so  that  if  the  United  States, 
bound,  by  the  Constitution  and  the  treaty,  to  repress  and 
punish  hostility  among  the  Indians  and  maintain  peace 
upon  our  borders,  shall,  by  any  means,  fail  in  their  duty  in 
these  respects,  a  competent  force  may  be  held  in  readiness 
to  march  at  a  moment's  warning,  either  to  repel  invasion, 
suppress  insurrection  among  the  Indians  within  our  own 
territory,  or  give  protection  to  the  friendly  Creeks,  and 
avenge  the  death  of  Mclntosh,  who,  always  a  firm  friend 
to  Georgia,  fell  a  sacrifice  in  her  cause : 

Ordered,  That  Major-General  Wimberly,  Major-General 
Shorter,  and  Major-General  Miller,  of  the  5th,  6th  and  7th 
Divisions,  forthwith  proceed  to  take  the  necessary  measures 
to  hold  in  readiness  their  respective  Divisions,  to  march  at 
a  moment's  warning,  either  by  detachments  or  otherwise, 
as  they  may  be  commanded  by  authority  of  the  Legislature, 
or  of  the  Commander-in-Chief. 

By  the  Commander-in-Chief: 

SEABORN  JONES, 

Aid-de-Camp. 

In  his  orders,  of  same  date,  to  each  of  the  above  named 
Generals,  he  said  : 

In  carrying  into  effect  the  enclosed  General  Orders,  you 


tlFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

will  keep  a  watchful  eye  to  the  frontier  of  our  white  settle- 
ments, so  that  YOU  may  be  able,  without  communicating 
with  me,  to  repress,  on  its  first  occurrence,  any  commotion 
which  may  happen  there  in  consequence  of  the  state  of 
things  prevailing  in  the  nation.  These  infuriated  ami  mis- 
guided people  may  have  the  temerity,  before  the  Gene  ml 
Government  can  interpose,  to  pursue  the  Indians  within 
our  organized  limits.  You  will,  therefore,  in  the  spirit  of 
these  instructions. give  yourorders  corresponding  with  them 
to  your  most  confidential  officers  resident  near  the  frontiers, 
who,  on  any  sudden  emergency  of  this  cliaraeter,  may, 
without  consulting  you,  proceed  instantly  to  their  execution. 
A  copy  of  General  Ware's  letter,  received  after  my  general 
orders  were  issued,  will  assure  you  of  the  nature  and  extent 
of  the  danger  to  be  apprehended,  and  of  the  promptitude 
with  which  they  are  to  be  carried  into  effect. 

To  Brigadier-General  Ware  he  wrote,  as  follows,  on  the 
same  day  : 

I  have  this  moment  received  yonr  letter,  and  at  the  very 
time  when  I  had  issued  orders  to  Major-Generals  Shorter 
and  Wimherly,  with  corresponding  instructions  to  meet  the 
very  exigencies  which,  from  your  information,  you  have 
reason  to  anticipate.  They  will  have  the  contents  of  yonr 
letter  communicated  to  them,  that  their  orders  may  be  dis- 
patched with  the  least  possible  delay.  I  wish  yon  to  take 
measures,  and  the  best  yon  can,  for  the  comfortable  main- 
tenance of  our  unhappy  friends,  whilst  they  seek  refuse 
among  us  and  are  protected  by  our  arms.  Additional  or- 
ders will  be  immediately  given  to  Major-General  Miller  to 
hold  his  Division  in  readiness.  The  expense  of  supporting 
the  Indians  will  be  incurred  by  the  State,  in  the  first  in- 
stance, and  reimbursed  to  her  from  the  first  instalment  pay- 
aide  to  them  by  the  United  States.  You  will,  therefore, 
hold  me  responsible  for  any  contract  you  may  make  on 
this  account,  whilst,  at  the  same  time,  I  ask  the  favor  of 
you  to  cause  them  to  be  made  on  the  best  possible  terms. 

I  sincerely  trust,  if  these  infuriated  monsters  shall  have 
the  temerity  to  set  foot  within  our  settled  limits,  you  may 
have  the  opportunity  to  give  them  the  bayonet  freely,  the 
instrument  which  they  most  dread,  and  which  is  most  ap- 
propriate to  the  occasion. 

The  same  day  he  wrote  to  the  War  Department,  as  fol- 
lows: 


CHAP.  X.]  LETTERS  ON  INDIAN  AFFAIRS.  281 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,      1 
Milledgeville,  5th  May,  1825.  ) 

Sir  :  I  lose  no  time  in  communicating,  for  the  informa- 
tion of  the  President,  a  copy  of  a  letter  received  this  ( 
morning  from  Brigadier  General  Ware,  commanding  the 
second  brigade  of  the  5th  division  of  the  militia  of  this 
State,  and  to  advise  you  that  measures  have  been  adopted 
for  the  adequate  protection  of  the  frontiers,  and  for  the 
safety  of  the  friendly  Indians  seeking  refuge  within  our 
limits,  until  the  authority  of  the  United  States  can  be 
effectually  interposed  for  these  purposes ;  and  that,  there- 
fore, the  expenses  incurred  in  the  mean  time  will  be  con- 
sidered chargeable  to  the  United  States.  In  due  time  the 
measures  referred  to  will  be  laid  before  you  in  extenso. 

With  great  consideration  and  respect, 
The  Secretary  of  War.  G.  M.  TKOUP. 

Col.  Hawkins,  the  interpreter,  and  friend  of  Mclntosh, 
has  shared  his  fate. 

Brigadier-General  Charles  J.  McDonald  having  written 
the  Governor  a  letter,  dated  6th  May,  referring  to  the 
"  disturbances  among  the  Creek  Indians,"  and  especially 
the  supposed  danger  to  Col.  Crowell,  the  Agent,  from  the 
alleged  hostility  to  him  of  "  those  friendly  and  those  hostile 
to  the  treaty,"  the  Governor  wrote  him  as  follows,  on  7th 
May: 

"Your  letter  of  the  6th  instant,  by  express,  is  this 
moment  received.  I  am  happy  to  learn  from  him  that  he 
bore  to  you  orders  from  Gen.  Wimberly,  in  consequence  of 
my  general  orders  to  him.  You  are,  therefore,  already  on 
your  guard,  and  you  will  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  take  the 
necessary  measures,  first  to  make  safe  the  frontier,  and  then 
to  give  to  the  Agent  any  protection  which,  according  to  the 
evidence  before  you,  his  safety  shall  demand ;  and  of 
which,  from  your  proximate  situation  to  him,  you  will  be 
the  exclusive  judge.  I  hope  that  no  harm  has  befallen 
him ;  and,  if  not,  you  may  assure  him  that  any  force  which 
may  be  necessary  to  reduce  to  order  and  obedience  any 
militant  tribes  of  the  Creeks  within  our  limits,  shall  be 
furnished  promptly,  under  the  command  of  a  trusty  officer, 
who  will  be  charged  with  full  power  to  act  efficiently, 
under  any  exigencies  that  may  arise. 

I  thank  you  for  the  promptitude  with  which  you  have  com- 
municated this  new  information — at  the  same  time  I  indulge 
36 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

hope  that  the  cause  of  alarm  has  been  exaggerated.  It 
is  scarcely  to  be  believed  that  the  Agent,  from  whom 
nothing  has  been  heard,  well  knowing  the  contentions  which 
agitate  the  country,  and  the  imminent  perils  which  stir- 
round  him,  should  not  have  dispatched  runners  to  make 
known  to  this  government,  officially,  and  without  delay, 
the  circumstances  which  your  letter  discloses  upon  the 
authority  of  a  respectable  traveler.  The  express  which 
brought  it,  carries  the  answer."1 

The  Governor's  surmises  were  ri^ht  in  regard  to  the 
"  cause  of  alarm."  He  therefore,  on  the  10th  of  May  wrote 
to  Gen.  McDonald,  and,  after  referring  to  a  letter  from  the 
third  party,  said  : 

"You  will  immediately,  therefore,  on  the  receipt  he1 
arrest  the  progress  of  any  measures  you  may  have  devised 
for  the  security  of  the  Agent,  and  return  to  the  position  in 
which  you  found  yourself  before  you  received  my  last  in- 
structions. You  will,  however,  under  the  general  order, 
received  through  Major-General  Wimberly,  still  continue  to 
hold  your  brigade  in  readiness  to  march  to  any  point  of  the 
frontier,  at  short  notice,  lest  we  may  be  deceived  by  ap- 
pearances, and  surprised." 

In  his  letter  of  9th  May,  to  the  Secretary  of  War, 
forwarding  a  copy  of  Gen.  McDonald's  letter  and  his  reply, 
the  Governor  said : 

"The  friendly  Indians  continue  to  desert  their  homes, 
and  seek  protection  within  our  limits.  Our  arms  are  open 
to  receive  them  at  all  points,  and  the  necessary  measures 
taken  for  their  maintenance;  the  expense  of  which  will 
devolve  on  the  United  States,  or  the  Indians  ;  it  is  hoped, 
on  the  former." 

In  a  postscript,  he  added  :  "  Up  to  this  time  not  a  word 
has  been  received  from  the  Agent. 

We  have  been  thus  minute  in  details  regarding  the  sud- 
den emergency  which  arose,  not  only  for  the  purpose  of 
exhibiting  the  patriotic  promptness  of  Gov.  Troup  on  an 
occasion  of  great  interest  to  the  country,  but  also  to  explain 
the  sequel  of  a  controversy  in  which  it  is  proper  that  the 
course  of  the  Governor,  especially  towards  the  Indian 
Agent,  may  be  fully  borne  out  by  the  record.  That  unjust 
suspicions  rested  upon  this  Agent,  in  regard  to  some  matters, 


CHAP.  X.]   .  NOTICES  OF  McINTOSH.  283 

may  be  conceded ;  but  it  is  also  believed  that  an  impartial 
survey  of  the  whole  ground  would  lead  to  the  irresistible 
conclusion  that  he  was  not  the  man  for  the  station,  and 
that,  in  compliance  with  the  request  of  the  Governor,  his 
commission  should  have  been  revoked. 

The  murder  of  Mclntosh  and  his  friends,  was  made  the 
subject  of  a  special  presentment  by  the  Grand  Jury  of  the 
U.  S.  Sixth  Circuit  Court  at  Milledgeville,  May  term,  1825  ; 
but  we  have  not  space  for  extracts  from  it. 

It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  a  notice  of  all  the  pro- 
ceedings, official  and  unofficial,  which  grew  out  of  the 
excitement  in  the  Indian  country.  The  messages  of  Gov. 
Troup  and  the  official  letters  to  and  from  him,  on  this 
subject,  would  fill  a  considerable  volume ;  and  it  shall  be 
our  duty,  in  succeeding  pages,  to  make  such  extracts  from 
them  as  will  illustrate  his  history  in  respect  to  this  Indian 
controversy. 

The  following  tribute  to  Mclntosh  and  his  friends,  taken 
from  an  article  (in  White's  Statistics  of  Georgia,  pp.  555, 
556,)  from  the  pen  of  the  late  Hon.  Joseph  W.  Jackson, 
deserves  a  place  here  : 

"This  brave  warrior  and  the  other  treaty-making  Indians 
had  borne  arms  for  the  United  States ;  those  opposed  to  the 
treaty  had  been  hostile  in  the  war  with  Great  Britain  in 
1812J  '13,  '14  and  '15.  So  faithful  had  he  been  to  us,  that 
British  blandishments  had  failed  to  affect  his  attachments  ; 
and,  as  a  just  reward  for  his  fidelity  and  bravery,  a  briga- 
dier-general's commission  had,  in  that  war,  been  sent  to 
him  from  Washington.  Again,  in  1817  and  1818,  he 
served  under  Gen.  Andrew  Jackson,  against  the  Indians  of 
Florida.  The  Indians  friendly  to  the  treaty  were  the  same 
who  had  made  previous  cessions,  against  their  power  to 
make  which  no  word  had  been  uttered.  They  were  the 
proprietors  and  occupants  of  the  ceded  lands,  and  in  battle 
had  conquered,  in  times  past,  the  recusant  Indians  :  those  op- 
posed were  inhabitants  of  the  interior  country,  altogether  in 
Alabama,  and  little  concerned  with  the  question.  But  a  few 
years  before,  General  Jackson  had  treated  the  latter  as  a 
conquered  people,  and  had  prescribed  to  them  their  bounds." 

On  the  18th  of  May,  a  committee  of  the  chiefs  and  head- 
men of  the  friendly  Creeks  addressed  a  communication  to 


• 


284:  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

Gov.  Troup,  enclosing  an  address,  which  they  desired  him 
to  publish,  the  principal  object  of  which  seems  to  have 
been  a  denial  of  certain  statements  said  to  have  been  made 
by  the  Agent,  in  a  letter  published  in  a  Macon  paper,  one 
of  which  was,  "  that  the  party  of  Indians  friendly  to  Gen. 
Mclntosh  had  threatened  his  life."  The  address  further 
said :  "We  also  see,  in  the  same  paper,  information  derived 
from  the  Agency,  that  the  killing  of  Mclntosh,  Tome  Tus- 
tunnuggee,  and  the  two  Hawkins,  was  not  intended  as 
hostilities  against  the  whites ;  that  it  was  only  a  fulfilment 
of  their  own  laws,  and  a  law  which  Gen.  Mclntosh  himself 
had  signed,  and  declared  in  the  square  at  Broken  Arrow? 
during  the  late  treaty  at  that  place.  This  law  was,  that  if 
any  Indian  Chief  should  sign  a  treaty  of  any  lands  to  the 
whites,  that  he  should  certainly  suffer  death.  This  state- 
ment is  positively  false ;  and  it  is  only  made  use  of  as  a 
pretext  for  the  cruel  murders  which  have  been  committed." 

The  Governor  replied  as  follows  : 

F.\i:<  ITIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
Mittedgeville,  21*2  May,  1825.      j 

My  Friends  :  I  have  this  moment  received  your  letter, 
with  the  paper  which  it  enclosed,  and  will,  as  you  request, 
cause  them  to  be  published  in  the  next  papers.  I  hope 
now  that  the  worst  is  over.  'T  is  true  that  Mclntosh  and 
his  friends,  who  have  been  so  cruelly  murdered,  cannot  be 
restored  to  life — but  the  Great  Spirit,  who  is  also  good  and 
merciful,  will  look  down  upon  your  sufferings  with  pity 
and  compassion — he  will  wipe  the  tears  from  your  eyes, 
and  soften  the  hearts  of  even  your  enemies  among  the 
whites — so  that,  if  your  great  father  should  turn  his  ear 
from  your  complaints,  or  shall  fail  to  punish  the  white 
men,  who  in  his  name  have  disturbed  your  peace,  and 
brought  the  heaviest  afflictions  upon  you,  he  will  have  to 
answer  for  it,  both  to  his  white  children  and  the  Great 
Spirit.  It  cannot  be  doubted,  therefore,  that  all  will  yet 
be  right.  In  the  mean  time,  continue  to  do  as  I  have 
advised  you,  and  until  you  hear  from  me.  My  officers 
everywhere  are  ordered  to  take  care  of  you  and  make 
you  comfortable.  As  soon  as  Chilly  returns,  you  shall 
know  it  Your  friend, 

The  Chiefs  and  Headmen  of  G.  M.  TEOUP. 

the  Friendly  Creeks. 


CHAP.  X.]  THE  CHEROKEES— AGAIN.  285 

[1825.]  Independently  of  their  complicity  with  the 
hostile  Creeks,  the  Cherokees  were  again  disposed  to  give 
trouble  on  their  own  account.  On  24rth  March,  Mr.  For- 
syth  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Governor,  enclosing  the  copy  of 
the  letter  which  the  former  had  "  written  to  the  Secretary 
of  War  since  the  adjournment  of  Congress,  on  the  subject 
of  the  execution  of  the  recent  treaty  with  the  Creek  Indians, 
and  the  formation  of  a  treaty  with  the  Cherokees,"  &c., 
with  the  Secretary's  answer  and  several  papers  received 
with  it.  In  his  letter  to  the  Secretary,  dated  9th  March, 
Mr.  Forsyth  urged  the  removal  of  the  Creeks  without 
unnecessary  delay ;  and,  in  regard  to  the  Agent,  he  said : 
"  The  conduct  of  the  Creek  Agent,  who  has  spared  no  pains 
to  prevent  the  formation  and  ratification  of  the  treaty, 
justifies  an  apprehension  that  he  will  not  fail  to  obstruct, 
as  far  as  is  in  his  power,  the  accomplishment  of  the  wishes 
of  the  State.  Under  this  conviction,  a  request  that  the 
conduct  of  the  Agent  may  be  watched,  and  that  no  con- 
fidence shall  be  reposed  in  him  that  can  be  consistently 
withheld,  is  dictated  by  the  interests  of  Georgia,  the 
wishes  of  the  Creek  tribe,  and  the  honor  of  the  General 
Government."  Eeferring  to  the  Cherokees,  he  said,  after 
a  brief  but  interesting  examination  of  their  relations  to 
Georgia,  "  my  own  opinion  is,  that  the  President  may, 
without  injustice  to  the  Indians,  without  violating  either 
principle  or  usage,  cause  a  purchase  to  be  made  of  the 
Cherokees  residing  in  Georgia,  of  the  lands  lying  in  Geor- 
gia ;"  and  he  concluded  with  expressing  "  the  hope  that 
a  new  effort  with  the  Cherokees  will  have  as  fortunate  a 
termination  as  the  recent  effort  with  the  Creeks." 

Mr.  Barbour,  the  new  Secretary  of  War,  replied,  on  23d 
March.  He  said,  after  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  Mr. 
Forsyth's  letter,  &c. : 

"  The  treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs  having  Been  ratified, 
will  be  carried  into  effect ;  measures  having  been  already 
taken  in  conformity  to  its  provisions.  Upon  the  second 
subject  referred  to  in  yours,  I  have  the  honor  to  state,  in 
reply,  that  the  President,  as  well  from  inclination  as  a 


286  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

sense  of  duty,  is  disposed  to  carry  into  effect  the  conditions 
of  the  compact  of  Georgia,  whenever  that  can  be  done 
consistently  with  its  provisions.  In  this  spirit,  and  in  con- 
formity to  your  suggestion,  a  letter  was  addressed  from  the 
Department  to  the  delegation  of  the  Cherokees  in  this 
place,  a  copy  of  which,  marked  A,  is  herewith  enclosed  ; 
also,  a  copy  of  their  answer,  marked  B,  to  which  is  added 
a  copy  of  a  communication,  marked  C,  addressed  by  the 
Cherokee  chiefs  to  the  President.  You  will  readily  per- 
ceive, from  this  correspondence,  the  determined  opposition 
of  the  Cherokees  at  this  time  to  the  cession  of  their  lands. 
I  am  directed  by  the  President  to  state,  that  lie  entirely 
accords  in  the  policy  recommended  by  Mr.  Monroe  to 
Congress,  at  their  last  session,  on  the  subject  of  the  general 
removal  of  the  Indians  to  the  west  of  the  Mississippi — a 
policy  believed  to  be  alike  advantageous  to  the  citizens  of 
the  United  States,  in  their  neighborhood,  and  the  Indians 
themselves.  This  object,  as  far  as  it  lies  within  the  sphere 
of  his  power,  will  be  promoted,  and  on  every  suitable  oc- 
casion its  beneficent  effects  will  be  particularly  inculcated 
on  the  Cherokee  nation." 

It  is  not  important  to  refer  specially  to  the  documents 
accompanying  the  letter.  Ross,  Lowrey  and  Hicks,  "  the 
delegation  of  the  Cherokees,"  declared  their  sentiments  in 
regard  to  a  cesssion  of  lands  to  be  the  same  as  those 
formerly  expressed  to  Mr.  Calhoun,  and  that  they  were 
"  unchangeable ;"  and,  in  an  insolent  letter  to  the  President, 
hoped  that  measures  might  be  "adopted  by  the  United 
States  and  the  State  of  Georgia,  so  as  to  close  their  com- 
pact without  teasing  the  Cherokees  any  more  for  the  lands." 

The  following  is  the  Governor's  reply,  which,  although 
addressed  to  Mr.  Forsyth,  was,  as  will  be  seen,  intended  for 
the  Secretary  of  War  : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPAKTMKNT,  GEORGIA,       ) 
Milledgemtte,  Mh  April,  1825.  J 

Sir :  Your  letter,  of  the  24th  ult.,  covering  a  cor- 
respondence between  yourself  and  the  Secretary  of  War, 
and  other  papers  connected  with  the  fulfilment  of  the 
stipulations  of  the  Articles  of  Agreement  and  Cession,  was 
received  yesterday.  Accept  my  thanks  for  your  unre- 
mitted  attention  to  the  interest  of  the  State.  They  are 
due,  from  the  people,  to  you  and  the  rest  of  the  delegation, 
for  your  generous  and  patriotic  devotion  to  their  rights, 


CHAP.  X.]  LETTER  TO  MR.  FORSYTH.  287 

and  for  the  firmness  and  dignity  with  which,  on  every 
occasion,  you  have  supported  them.  On  the  opening  of  a 
new  administration  of  the  General  Government,  soon  after 
one  important  concession  had  been  made  to  our  just  de- 
mands, it  is  scarcely  necessary  to  inform  you  how  eagerly 
I  sought  repose  from  the  painful  altercation  which  it  had 
been  my  imperious  duty  to  wage  with  the  constituted  au- 
thorities of  the  Union,  and  with  how  much  of  hope  and 
anxiety  I  looked  forward  to  the  future,  trusting  that,  in 
better  and  improved  relations,  we  would  find  a  kindly  and 
conciliatory  spirit  succeeded  to  troubled  feelings ;  the  sense 
of  wrong  on  either  side  consigned  to  forge tfulness ;  and  the 
claims  of  Georgia  recognized  in  all  the  extent  which  reason, 
justice  and  good  faith  would  warrant.  I  trust  that  for 
these,  more  has  not  been  asked — that  less  will  not  be  re- 
ceived. 

It  cannot  be  dissembled,  however,  that  in  the  answer 
given  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to  your  communication  of 
the  9th  ult.,  presupposing  the  best  disposition  to  do  right, 
a  course  of  policy  is  indicated  which  must  infallibly  termi- 
nate in  wrong.     It  is  of  kindred  spirit  with  that,  which,  for 
a  time,  kept  us  in  abeyance  with  the  Creeks,  and  held  the 
State  suspended  between  the  most  fearful  alternatives.     On 
the  12th  of  March,  the  delegation  of  Cherokees  at  Wash- 
ington, laid  before  the  President  their  customary  annual 
protest  against  a  cession  of  lands  on  any  terms,  now  or 
hereafter.     On  the  same  day,  they  are  asked,  by  order  of 
the  Secretary  of  War,  if  they  will  sell  lands  ;  they  answer, 
no,  and  this  answer  is  echoed  by  the  Secretary  of  War  to 
you.     I  hope  it  is  not  considered,  as  it  purports  to  be,  final. 
Should  the  proposition  be  renewed,  another  and  very  dif- 
ferent character  must  be  given  to  it.     The  Cherokees  must 
be  told,  in  plain  language,  that  the  lands  they  occupy  be- 
long to  Georgia ;  that  sooner  or  later  the  Georgians  must 
have  them  ;  that  every  day,  nay,  every  hour,  of  postpone- 
ment of  the  rights  of  Georgia,  makes  the  more  strongly  for 
Georgia,  and  against  both  the  United  States  and  the  Cher- 
okees.    Why  conceal  from  this  misguided  race  the  destiny 
which  is  fixed  and  unchangeable  ?     Why  conceal  from  them 
the  fact  that  every  advance  in  the  improvement  of  the 
country  is  to  enure  to  the  benefit  of  Georgia  ;  that  every 
fixture  will  pass  with  the  soil  into  our  hands,  sooner  or 
later,  for  which  the  United  States  must  pay  an  equivalent 
or  not,  to  the  Indians,  according  to  their  discretion  ?     The 
United  States  are  bound,  injustice  to  themselves,  instantly 
to  arrest  the  progress  of   improvement  in  the  Cherokee 


288  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

country  ;  it  is  the  reason  constantly  assigned  by  the  Chero- 
kees  for  their  refusal  to  abandon  the  country.  The  force 
of  the  argument,  therefore,  if  good  now,  increases  with  the 
progress  of  improvement ;  the  progress  of  improvement 
will  be  accelerated  by  the  irresistible  force  of  the  argu- 
ment. Thus,  by  a  double  ratio  of  geometrical  progression, 
known  only  to  the  logicians  of  modern  times,  Georgia  will 
find  herself  in  a  predicament,  in  which,  whatever  may 
have  been  the  aggravation  of  her  wrongs,  she  never  before 
stood — disseized  of  both  the  argument  and  the  lands.  Why 
not,  therefore,  in  common  honesty  and  plain  dealing,  say 
to  the  Indians,  remove  now,  or  stay  the  nand  of  improve- 
ment forever ;  now  we  will  give  you  the  full  value  of  im- 
provement; hereafter  we  will  give  nothing,  because  we 
cannot  afford  to  pay  for  improvements  from  which  no  ben- 
efit will  result  to  us,  which  will  belong  to  the  Georgians, 
and  which  you  were  forewarned,  in  good  time,  not  to  make  ? 
Let  them  say,  now  is  the  appointed  time  ;  we  offer  you  acre 
for  acre,  and  we  change  your  tenancy  at  will  into  a  fee 
simple,  which  will  descend  to  your  posterity  forever.  If 
you  accept,  well  and  good  ;  if  you  refuse,  we  are  not  bound 
to  make  you  the  same  offer  again.  You  were  once  without 
a  country  ;*  you  sought  refuge  among  the  Creeks ;  they 
received  you  with  open  arms,  and  gave  you  the  lands  you 
now  occupy  ;  take  care  that  you  are  not  without  a  country 
again — you  may  find  no  more  Creeks — no  more  lands. 

Is  it  to  be  conceived  that  such  an  argument  would  be 
wasted  on  the  Cherokees  ?  What  motive  would  be  left 
them  to  continue  in  a  state  so  precarious,  when,  every  in- 
centive to  human  industry  being  destroyed,  the  barn,  the 
dwelling,  the  out-houses,  the  fencing,  falling  into  decay  and 
ruin,  the  wretched  Indian  scatters  upon  an  impoverished 
and  exhausted  soil  the  seed  from  which  it  is  even  doubtful 
if  he  is  permitted  by  the  impatient  white  man  to  reap  the 
scanty  harvest  ? 

Is  it  forbidden  to  speak  the  Language  of  truth  and  frank- 
ness ?  It  may  be  that  all  will  avail  nothing.  If  all  should, 
it  will  be  because  the  Cherokees  distrust  the  sincerity  of 
the  United  States.  That  they  have  reason  for  distrust,  even 

*  Having  doubts  as  to  the  reference  in  this  part  of  Gov.  Troup's  letter,  tho  Editor  applied 
to  Gov.  Gilmer,  who,  in  a  note  dated  27th  Feb.,  1859,  says :  "  I  suppose  that  the  Churokees  had 
occupied,  for  an  unknown  time,  tho  tcrritniy  which  they  possessed  In  tho  upper  parts  of 
North  Carolina,  South  Carolina  and  Georgia,  when  they  become  known  to  the  Colonists,"  Ac. 
And  again:  "Gov.  Tronp's  expression,  which  you  quote,  refers,  I  suppose,  to  that  part  of  tlio 
Cherokee  territory  which  had,  at  one  tune,  bceu  occupied  by  the  Crocks."— ED. 


CHIP.  X.]  LETTER  TO  MR.  FORSYTE.  289 

in  the  conduct  of  the  United  States  towards  themselves,  is 
undoubted.  When  they  were  willing  to  cede  lands,  the 
United  States  would  not  take  them.  In  the  conduct  of  the 
United  States  towards  the  Creeks,  they  think  they  see 
abundant  proof  of  the  lukewarmness  and  indifference  of 
the  General  Government  in  carrying  into  practical  effect, 
so  far  as  concerns  Georgia,  the  plans  which  they  devised 
for  the  removal  of  the  Indians.  It  is  of  no  consequence 
that  the  Indians  are  deceived  by  appearances — the  appear- 
ances would  deceive  any  body.  They  see  the  Agent  for  the 
Creeks,  well  knowing  the  officially  expressed  will  of  the 
Government,  opposing  himself  to  that  will,  holding  coun- 
cils of  the  Indians  for  the  very  purpose  of  anticipating  and 
forestalling  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  States,  by 
inconsiderate  and  violent  resolves,  the  same  as  those  of  the 
Cherokees  themselves.  When  the  treaty  is  holden  at 
Broken  Arrow,  the  Cherokees  are  present,  by  their  emis- 
saries, under  the  eye  of  the  Agent,  busied  to  defeat,  by  the 
most  wily  machinations  and  contrivances,  the  objects  of 
the  treaty.  They  witness  the  failure  of  the  treaty,  and  by 
these  means.  Is  such  a  case  explicable  before  the  Indians? 
— the  servant  setting  at  naught  the  will  of  the  master,  and 
the  master  countenancing  the  servant  in  defying  that  will : 
the  government  itself,  when  asked  for  the  resolution  of 
these  mysterious  things,  resolves  them  into  a  misconception 
of  duty.  On  the  renewal  of  the  treaty  at  the  Indian 
Springs,  the  like  scenes  are  presented  both  to  whites  and 
Indians — the  Agent  professedly  aiding  the  Commissioners, 
secretly  undermining  them,  dismissing  in  the  dead  of  night 
the  Chiefs  who  had  agreed  to  sign  the  treaty  ;  protesting 
the  treaty,  after  having  affixed  his  own  signature  to  it  as  a 
witness,  on  the  ground  that  these  very  same  Chiefs  did 
not  subscribe  to  it ;  announcing  to  his  government  that 
the  treaty  was  in  direct  violation  of  its  own  instructions  ; 
insinuating  very  strongly  that  improper  means  had  been 
adopted  to  procure  it,  and  denouncing  the  hostility  of  the 
Indians  in  the  event  of  its  ratification. 

The  poor  Cherokees  knew,  as  well  as  the  most  enlight- 
ened member  of  the  Cabinet,  that  if  a  foreign  minister  of 
the  h'rst  grade  had  dared  the  one-half  of  this,  he  would 
have  been  dismissed  with  disgrace.  Yet  the  Agent,  oppos- 
ing himself  to  his  government,  as  it  would  seem,  certainly 
opposing  himself  to  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  that 
government,  passing  on  to  Washington  for  the  avowed  pur- 
pose of  preventing  the  ratification  of  the  treaty,  meets  a 

37 


290  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

cordial  greeting  of  his  employers  there,  and  -when  the  Pres- 
ident, discrediting  every  word  of  the  Agent,  had  submitted 
the  treaty  to  the  Senate — when  the  Senate,  in  like  manner, 
trusting  nothing  to  the  Agent,  and  reposing  confidence  in 
the  declarations  of  the  Commissioners,  had  ratified  it,  he  is 
permitted  to  depart  for  his  Agency,  if  not  with  new  demon- 
strations of  affection,  without,  so  far  as  I  know,  the  slight- 
est reprehension  or  blame ;  and,  what  is  worse  than  all, 
after  having  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  a  party  adverse 
to  that  which,  is  now  dominant,  and  which  had  recently 
ceded  the  country  to  us,  he  is  appointed  the  guardian  of 
the  whole,  to  conduct  to  their  new  and  distant  home  this 
hapless  race  ;  to  command  their  destinies  through  untried 
and  checkered  scenes,  and  to  make  his  distance  from  the 
controlling  power  an  absolute  security  against  all  scrutiny 
and  responsibility.  The  only  apology  attempted  by  the 
Agent  for  any  allegation  of  misconduct  or  aberration  from 
duty,  in  these  respects,  has  been — 't  was  not  I,  't  was  the 
sub-Agent — 't  was  not  I,  't  was  the  Interpreter.  The  United 
States  might  possibly  be  the  voluntary  dupe  of  such  shallow 
pretences ;  certainly  not  the  Cherokees  or  the  Georgians. 
Ask  the  Commissioners,  if,  but  for  the  interference  of  the 
Agent,  there  would  have  been  serious  difficulty  at  Broken 
Arrow.  Ask  them,  if,  at  the  Indian  Springs,  an  almost 
unanimous  concurrence  of  the  Chiefs  might  not  have  been 
commanded,  but  for  the  counterplots  and  under  workings  of 
the  Agent.  Ask  any  member  of  the  cabinet,  notwithstand- 
ing the  farrago  of  resolves  and  protestations  to  the  contrary, 
if  he  may  not  command  a  treaty,  on  a  given  day,  upon  just 
and  reasonable  terms,  for  a  cession  of  all  the  lands  claimed 
by  the  Cherokees. 

Be  pleased  to  present  a  copy  of  this  note  to  the  Secretary 
of  War.  Upon  the  general  subject,  everything  has  been 
heretofore  said  which  it  was  proper  or  becoming  to  say  ;  and 
I  had  resolved  not  to  resume  it,  unless  invited  on  the  part 
of  the  Federal  Government,  or  commanded  by  the  Legis- 
lature of  the  State.  The  more  recent  events  may  not  have 
been  portrayed,  before  the  present  Cabinet,  in  the  same  light 
in  which  you  and  myself  cannot  fail  to  regard  them.  The 
gentlemen  who  have  recently"'  come  into  it,  I  know  person- 

*  The  new  members  then  recently  appointed  by  Mr.  Adams  to  places  in  his  Cabinet. 
Henry  Clay,  Secretary  of  State,  Richard  Rush,  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  James  Harbour, 

:--iry  of  War.    Mr.  Southard  nnd  Mr.  "\Virt,  the  other  members  of  the  Cabi> 
appointed  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  Attorney-Genen.'.  ;  »P,  and 

•were  continued  in  office  by  President  Adams.  lion.  John  McLean,  also  appointed  under  the 
previous  administration,  was  continued  as  Post-Master-General ;  but  that  officer  was  not  then 
one  of  the  Cabinet.— ED. 


CHAP.  X.  RECEPTION  OP  LA  FAYETTE.  291 

ally,  and  will  be  very  much  deceived  if  they  are  not  de- 
serving our  highest  confidence,  as  intelligent,  upright  and 
patriotic  men.  If  they  understand  this  matter  correctly, 
they  will  see  that  it  is  not  a  question  about  some  five  or  six 
millions  of  acres  of  land  ;  it  is  one  of  principle  and  of 
character,  connected  with  the  honor  of  the  government,  and 
therefore  above  all  price. 

The  people  of  the  United  States,  content  with  their  po- 
litical institutions,  ask  nothing  of  their  rulers  but  purity 
in  the  administration  of  their  affairs — disinteredness,  single- 
ness of  purpose,  for  the  public  weal,  sincerity  and  plain 
dealing  on  the  part  of  all  the  functionaries,  from  the  high- 
est to  the  lowest,  fidelity  to  every  trust,  and  strict  accounta- 
bility in  the  fulfilment  of  every  duty,  to  the  exclusion  of 
selfishness,  intrigues,  tricks,  and  devices  of  low  cunning,  to 
gratify  party  passions  and  subserve  sordid  interests,  huck- 
sterings  and  barterings,  and  all  the  rest,  which  they  will 
cheerfully  leave  to  the  mountebanks  and  jugglers  to  whom 
they  appropriately  belong. 

With  great  consideration  and  respect, 

G.  M.  TEOUP. 
The  Hon.  John  Forsyth, 

Washington  City. 

It  is  time,  now,  to  turn  from  scenes  of  agitation  and  strife, 
to  contemplate,  for  a  moment,  one  of  a  different  sort — a 
holiday  scene — a  pageant  never  to  be  forgotten  in  the  his- 
tory of  Georgia  or  of  the  Union ;  we  mean  the  visit  and 
welcome  of  the  great  and  good  La  Fayette  to  our  shores. 
Returning,  after  a  period  of  nearly  half  a  century,  to  the 
country  which  he  had  largely  contributed  by  his  valor  to 
rescue  from  the  grasp  of  oppression,  and  to  set  up  and  es- 
tablish as  an  independent  nation,  he  was  everywhere  re- 
ceived with  acclamations,  amidst  the  booming  of  cannon 
and  themostlively  demonstrations  of  joy.  Slowly  pursuing 
his  journey  through  the  North,  he  turned  his  face  toward 
the  plains  and  cities  of  the  South,  and,  on  the  19th  day 
of  March,  1825,  reached  Savannah  and  stood  upon  the 
soil  of  Georgia.  Pursuant  to  a  joint  resolution  of  the 
General  Assembly,  Governor  Troup  was  there  to  welcome 
him  as  the  guest  of  the  State.  As  the  General  reached  tin) 


292  I'IFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

top  of  the  bluff  at  the  eastern  end  of  the  city,  he  was  wel- 
comed by  the  Governor  in  the  following  eloquent  strains: 

"Welcome,  La  Fayette  I 

General:  T  is  little  more  than  ninety  years  since  the 
Founder  of  this  State  first  set  foot  upon  the  bank  on  which 
you  stand.  Now,  four  hundred  thousand  people  open  their 
arms  to  receive  you.  Thanks  to  a  kina  Providence,  it 
called  you  to  the  standard  of  Liberty  in  the  helplessness  of 
our  early  revolution — it  has  preserved  you,  that,  in  your 
latter  days,  the  glory  of  a  great  empire  might  bo  reflected 
back  upon  you,  amid  the  acclamations  of  millions. 

The  scenes  which  are  to  come,  will  be,  for  you,  compara- 
tively tranquil  and  placid — there  will  be  no  more  of  dun- 
geons— no  more  of  frowns  of  tyrants.  Oh,  sir,  what  a 
consolation  for  a  man.  who  has  passed  through  such  seas 
of  trouble,  that  the  million  of  bayonets  which  guard  the 
blessings  we  enjoy,  stand  between  you  and  them  ! 

But,  enough — welcome,  General !  welcome — thrice  wel- 
come to  the  State  of  Georgia  ! 

During  his  stay  in  Savannah,  Governor  Troup  joined  in 
the  festivities  of  the  occasion,  and  reviewed  the  squadron 
of  cavalry. 

He  was  also  selected  to  deliver  to  the  Colonel  of  the 
first  Regiment,  a  stand  of  colors  wrought  for  it  by  the  lady 
of  the  Brigadier-General.  The  following  was  the  address, 
delivered  in  presence  of  General  La  Fayette,  the  military, 
and  a  vast  concourse  of  citizens  : 

Colonel :  I  present  to  you,  by  command  of  Mrs.  Harden, 
a  Standard  of  Colors  for  the  first  Regiment,  worked  by  her 
own  hands.  It  is  a  fine  offering  from  the  fair  to  the  brave,  in 
the  presence  of  the  veteran  hero  whom  all  hearts  delight  to 
honor.  I  am  happy  to  be  the  instrument  of  unfurling  them 
for  the  first  time  before  the  Regiment.  They  are  conse- 
crated by  the  fair  donor  and  the  presence  of  the  Nation's 
guest.  The  hand  which  executed  this  beautiful  work, 
has  painted,  in  indelible  colors,  the  emblems'""  which  will 
guard  them.  Look  on  this  picture,  or  on  that — this  re- 
pels dishonor,  that  animates  to  patriotism  and  to  deeds  of 

«  Tho  principal  emblems  were,  oa  ono  side,  the  arms  of  the  Sta'  -itional  arch 

being  supported  by  three  female  figures  representing  '•  Wisdom,  Justice  and  Moderat  inn"  ;  and, 
on  thorcTerso,  a  bust  of  La  Fayette,  (in  the  old  Continental  uniform,)  and  which  is  being 
crowned  with  o  laurel  wreath  l>y  the  American  Eagle. — ED. 


CHAP.  X.]  MESSAGE  AT  THE  EXTRA  SESSION.  293 

valor.    They  cannot  be  tarnished.    Death  before  their  in- 
glorious surrender.* 

[1825.]  Pursuant  to  the  Governor's  proclamation,  the 
General  Assembly  convened,  in  extra  session,  at  Milledge- 
ville,  on  Monday,  the  23d  day  of  May.  There  being  a 
quorum  of  both  Houses  present,  the  Governor,  on  the  same 
day,  sent  in  the  following  message,  which  we  cannot  con- 
sent to  abridge : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  Ga., 

Miliedgeville,  23d  May,  1825. 
Fellow- Citizens  of  the  Senate 

and   House  of  Representatives : 

In  ^calling  you  together,  I  have  not  been  unmindful 
of  the  personal  inconvenience  and  of  the  public  expense 
which  attend  it.  Consulting  both,  little  will  be  submitted 
to  your  consideration  disconnected  with  the  main  subject 
of  your  deliberation. 

The  recent  acquisition  of  our  vacant  territory  in  the 
occupation  of  the  Creeks,  is  that  subject,  and  the  survey 
and  appropriation  the  objects,  which  will  claim  your 
attention.  For  the  first,  we  are  chiefly  indebted  to  the 
Commissioners  of  the  United  States,  Colonel  Campbell  and 
Major  Meriwether.  Too  much  praise  cannot  be  given  to 
these  gentlemen,  for  the  firmness  and  intrepidity  with  which 
they  met  the  most  formidable  obstacles,  and  for  the  untir- 
ing zeal  and  patient  labor,  with  which  they  conquered  them. 
That  of  this  praise  there  can  be  no  waste  or  misapplication, 
you  will  read  in  the  various  documents  and  correspondence 
connected  with  it,  and  which  are  submitted.  You  will 
distinctly  see  that  the  principal  difficulties  which  embar- 
rassed them  from  beginning  to  end — which  defeated  the 
first  treaty  at  Broken  Arrow,  and  which  were  well  nigh 
producing  a  rupture  of  the  last,  at  the  Indian  Springs, 
proceeded  from  a  quarter,  the  least  of  all  to  be  expected — • 
from  officers  in  the  pay  and  confidence  of  the  Federal 
Government,  who,  instead  of  rendering  to  the  Commis- 
sioners the  most  cordial  co-operation,  nad  organized  an 
opposition,  thereby  exposing  to  suspicion  their  own  Gov- 
ernment, which,  in  justification  of  itself,  was  finally  obliged 

*  Gov.  Troup  accompanied  La  Fayette  to  Augusta;  and,  at  Millodgeville,  entertained  him, 
at  the  Executive  Mansion,  as  the  guest  of  the  State.  At  the  public  dinner  to  La  Fayette  at 
the  latter  place,  Gov.  Troup  gave  the  following  toast :  "  A  union  of  all  hearts  to  honor  the 
Nation's  guest — a  union  of  all  heada  for  our^country's  good." — ED. 


294:  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciup.  X. 

to  avow  that  the  perfidious  plots  and  devices  contrived  by 
it,  were  unknown  and  unauthorized  at  Washington,  at  the 
same  time  the  authors  and  contrivers  were  permitted  to 
escape  but  with  little  observation,  and  certainly  without 
merited  punishment. 

The  Delegation  in  Congress,  always  faithful  to  their  trust, 
have  seconded,  by  active  and  incessant  labor,  the  measures 
taken  by  this  Government  to  support  not  only  this  impor- 
tant right,  but  all  other  rights  and  interests  of  the  State ; 
and,  in  the  delicate  and  critical  relations  which  these 
involved,  have  so  deported  themselves  as  to  command  the 
confidence  of  ourselves,  and  the  respect  of  all  who  know 
them. 

In  disposing  of  the  territory  thus  acquired,  it  is  recom- 
mended to  you  to  consult  the  will  of  your  constituents,  so 
far  as  that  will  can  be  distinctly  ascertained.  The  lands 
belong  to  them  in  joint  and  several  property,  and  none  but 
themselves  or  their  immediate  representatives  can  right- 
fully dispose  of  them.  Recognizing  this  as  a  fundamental 
principle,  you  have,  in  the  exercise  of  a  sound  discretion, 
to  look  as  well  to  ulterior  and  remote,  us  to  immediate 
interests ;  interests  which  the  people  themselves  cannot 
fail  to  appreciate  and  cherish,  because  they  directly  and 
equally  concern  each  and  every  of  them  now,  and  their 
posterity  hereafter.  They  are  those  of  Public  Education; 
of  Internal  Improvement ;  of  relief  from  taxation,  when 
taxation  would  be  most  required  and  most  bur thensome ; 
the  efficiency  of  a  military  system  for  defence,  in  providing 
arms  and  arsenals  and  all  the  materiel  of  war,  for  which 
no  State  ought  to  be  dependent  on  another,  and  indeed 
every  subject,  which,  in  peace  or  war,  can  conduce  to  the 
safety  or  prosperity  of  the  State,  and  requiring  for  its  most 
useful  and  energetic  application,  the  propulsive  instrument, 
money.  To  dilate  upon  these  topics,  would  be  to  consume 
your  time  uselessly.  Your  own  wisdom  will  better  supply 
the  argument  in  support  of  each.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  the 
accumulation  of  a  fund  for  internal  improvement  on  an 
extended  scale,  will,  by  its  judicious  application,  so  mul- 
tiply your  resources,  and  augment  your  income,  as  to  enable 
you,  eventually,  to  replace  that  fund  ;  provide  abundantly 
for  all  the  wants  of  the  State;  dispense  with  taxation  ;  and 
place  you,  in  all  these  respects,  on  a  footing  with  the  most 
favored  of  your  sister  States,  who,  with  less  means,  have 
accomplished  more. 

These  are  no  idle  speculations.  The  results  are  about  to  be 
realized  in  an  illustrious  instance,  where  a  great  member  of 


CH  AP.  X,]  MESSAGE— CONTINUED.  295 

the  Confederacy  has  made  herself  greatest  by  perfecting 
what  nature  had  roughly  sketched,  and  thus  fulfilling,  by 
a  no  very  complicated  process,  the  highest  duties  to  herself 
and  to  God.  Our  physical  advantages  are  scarcely  inferior ; 
and,  when  it  is  believed  to  be  quite  practicable  to  divide 
with  her  the  trade  of  the  Western  world,  our  temptations 
cannot  be  less.  Pre-supposing,  therefore,  that  the  system 
hitherto  adopted,  for  the  settlement  of  our  territory,  will 
be  pursued,  I  advise  that  the  fee  upon  the  grant  be  fixed 
at  a  rate'  which,  whilst  it  makes  the  grant  essentially 
a  donation,  and  takes  nothing  from  the  pockets  of  the 
poorest  of  our  citizens,  but  what  will  be  paid  without  in- 
convenience or  complaint,  will,  at  the  same  time,  bring 
something  into  the  Treasury,  in  aid  of  the  general  fund 
appropriated  to  these  objects.  To  this  the  proceeds  of  the 
fractions  and  of  any  reservations  you  may  think  proper  to 
make,  will  importantly  contribute. 

Having  advocated  the  present  system  from  the  beginning, 
there  has  been  no  reason  to  change  any  opinion  formed  of 
it.  Men  and  the  soil  constitute  the  strength  and  wealth  of 
nations :  and  the  faster  you  plant  the  men,  the  sooner  you 
can  draw  on  both.  No  new  country  has  been  peopled  faster 
than  the  territory  acquired  from  time  to  time  by  Georgia ; 
none  more  rapidly  improved  with  the  same  established 
modes  and  customs  of  improvement.  The  speculations  by 
which  its  principle  has  been  vitiated,  it  is  our  bounden  duty 
to  discourage  and  repress  ;  they  defeat  the  very  end  of  it, 
because,  whilst  you  contemplate  the  advantage  of  the 
poor,  the  speculator  preys  upon  the  poor,  and  fattens  on  it. 

Having  foreseen  that  troubles  might  arise  in  the  Indian 
country  from  the  proceedings  at  Broken  Arrow,  and  the  In- 
dian Springs,  I  sought  an  early  opportunity,  after  the  first  in- 
dications of  them,  to  dispatch  my  Aid-de-camp,  Col.  Lamar, 
into  the  nation,  with  a  talk  for  that  portion  of  the  tribe  which 
had  menaced  Mclntosh  and  his  friends  with  injury.  This 
duty  was  performed  entirely  to  my  satisfaction,  as  you  will 
perceive  by  the  report  of  Col.  Lamar.  They  professed  the 
most  friendly  sentiments,  both  toward  the  whites  and 
toward  Mclntosh,  and  gave  assurances  that  they  were 
meditating  harm  to  neither.  It  is  believed,  from  recent 
information,  that  they  acted  in  perfect  sincerity  and  good 
faith,  and  that  the  subsequent  departure  from  it  was  the 
result  of  the  active  and  malignant  interference  of  white 
men.  In  my  solicitude  for  the  peace  and  happiness  of  this 
afflicted  race,  who  were  about  to  leave  us  to  try  new  for- 
tunes in  a  distant  land,  I  issued  the  Proclamation  of  the 


296  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

21st  of  March,  which  immediately  followed  the  ratification 
of  the  treaty,  and  thus  transcended  the  obligations  enjoined 
by  strict  duty. 

Having  their  own  pledge  that  the  peace  should  be  kept 
among  themselves,  I  wished  to  see  no  interruption  of  it  by 
the  Georgians ;  and,  honorably  for  them,  there  has  been 
none.  I  verily  believe,  that  but  for  the  insidious  practices 
of  evil-minded  white  men,  the  entire  nation  would  have 
moved  harmoniously  across  the  Mississippi.  The  massacre 
of  Mclntosh  and  his  friends  is  to  be  attributed  to  them 
alone.  That  chieftain,  whose  whole  life  had  been  devoted 
to  Georgia  as  faithfully  as  to  his  own  tribe,  fell  beneath  the 
blows  of  the  assassins,  when  reposing  in  the  bosom  of  his 
family,  upon  the  soil  of  Georgia;  the  soil  which  he  had 
defended  against  a  common  enemy  and  against  his  own 
blood;  which  he  had  relinquished  forever  to  our  just  de- 
mands ;  and  which  he  had  abandoned  to  our  present  use, 
only  because  we  asked  it.  So  foul  a  murder,  perpetrated 
by  a  foreign  force  upon  our  territory,  and  within  our  juris- 
diction, called  aloud  for  vengeance.  It  was  my  settled 
purpose,  having  first  consulted  the  Government  at  Wash- 
ington, to  have  dealt  out  the  full  measure  of  that,  vengeance ; 
so  that  honor,  humanity,  justice,  being  satisfied,  whatever 
stain  may  have  been  left  upon  our  soil,  none  should  upon 
the  page  of  our  history. 

But  the  Representatives  of  the  people  were  about  to  as- 
semble, who  would  bring  with  them  feelings  and  sentiments 
corresponding  to  the  occasion,  tempered  by  a  deliberate 
wisdom  and  a  sound  discretion ;  the  task  is  cheerfully  re- 
signed to  them,  and  whatever  in  the  last  resort  they  will — 
that  will  be  done. 

The  consternation  and  alarm  which  immediately  followed 
the  death  of  Mclntosh,  rendered  necessary  measures  of 
precaution,  as  well  for  the  security  of  the  frontier  as  for  the 
protection  of  the  friendly  Indians,  who,  deserting  their 
homes,  fled,  with  their  wives  and  children,  before  the  hostile 
party,  and  presenting  themselves  destitute  and  defenc 
at  various  points  of  the  frontiers,  asked  bread  of  our  hu- 
manity, and  protection  of  our  arms.  The  Quarter-Masters 
were  directed  to  supply  the  one,  and  our  Generals  ordered 
to  afford  the  other  ;  and  both  at  the  expense  of  the  United 
States,  of  which  they  had  due  notice.  The  orders  and  in- 
structions to  Major-Generals  Wimberly,  Miller  and  Shorter, 
with  the  correspondence,  &c.,  are  laid  before  you. 

The  United  States  Government  has  been  again  advised  of 
the  earnest  desire  of  the  Government  of  Georgia,  that  the 


CHAP.  X.]  MESSAGE  AT  EXTRA  SESSION.  297 

line  between  this  State  and  the  State  of  Alabama  should 
be  run  and  marked.  The  United  States  answer  to  this  last 
request,  that  it  is  a  concern  of  the  two  States  exclusively, 
in  which  the  United  States  will  not  interfere.  On  the  former 
occasion,  as  you  will  remember,  the  General  Government 
declined  a  participation,  and  upon  the  allegation  singly 
that  the  State  of  Alabama  had  not  given  her  assent.  The 
State  of  Alabama  had,  in  fact,  given  her  assent,  and  had 
sought,  with  much  solicitude,  the  concurrence  of  Georgia. 
Very  recently,  her  former  resolutions  upon  this  subject 
have  been  rescinded,  and  Georgia  is  left  free  to  run  the  line 
with  or  without  her  co-operation,  as  she  may  deem  best. 
The  correspondence  with  the  General  Government,  and  the 
letter  of  the  Governor  of  Alabama,  are  submitted. 

Our  claims  to  the  lands  occupied  by  the  Cherokees  with- 
in our  limits,  as  well  as  those  on  account  of  Indian  depre- 
dations, provided  for  by  the  first  treaty  at  the  Indian 
Springs,  are  aclverted  to  only  to  inform  you  of  the  actual 
state  of  those  interests,  and  for  this  purpose  the  various 
papers  connected  with  them  are  laid  before  you. 

Since  you  were  last  in  session,  much  anxiety  and  con- 
cern have  been  manifested  for  all  the  interests  connected 
with  the  Bank  of  Darien.  The  origin  of  the  excitement, 
and  consequent  depreciation  of  the  paper  of  that  institution, 
may  be  considered  fit  subjects  of  investigation.  The  report 
of  a  committee  appointed  to  examine  the  state  of  its  affairs, 
having  been  reviewed  and  adopted  by  you,  left  at  the  close 
of  the  session  the  solvency  of  the  Bank  indisputable.  When, 
on  a  subsequent  occasion,  it  became  necessary  for  the  Ex- 
ecutive to  pass  an  order  connected  with  this  depreciation, 
and  the  administration  of  the  finances,  I  did  not  hesitate  so 
to  act  as  to  conform  the  order  both  to  your  expressed  opin- 
ion and  the  practice  of  the  Treasury.  As  no  change  had 
been  made  in  the  condition  of  the  institution,  I  would 
suffer  none  to  be  made  in  the  payments  and  receipts  of  its 
bills  at  the  Treasury,  until  you  should  order  otherwise  ;  and, 
whilst  I  would  not  permit  any  measure  to  be  taken  which 
would  be  construed  into  depreciation  at  the  Treasury,  I 
would  suffer  none  that  would  have  the  least  effect  to  em- 
barrass the  operations  of  the  other  institutions ;  and  this 
was  the  more  proper,  because  the  difficulties  of  the  one 
institution  might  be  ascribable,  in  some  degree,  to  remiss- 
ness  or  indiscretion  in  the  management,  for  which  it  was 
certainly  not  entitled  to  favor,  whilst  the  operation  at  the 
Treasury  still  continued  favorable  to  it,  inasmuch  as,  the 
38 


298  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  X. 

receipts  and  payments  being  confined  to  Darien  bills,  and 
the  receipts  exceeding  the  payments,  there  would  be  a  con- 
stant accumulation  of  such  bills,  and  consequently  a  sub- 
traction, to  that  amount,  from  the  circulation  of  the  country. 

In  every  other  State  of  the  Union,  where  bank  credit  has 
been  sustained,  these  institutions  mutually  aid  and  assist 
each  other,  and  by  harmonious  co-operation  maintain  un- 
impaired the  circulating  medium  of  that  State.  Those  of 
Georgia  must  profit  of  this  wise  example.  Interest  and 
credit  are  not  to  be  found  in  rivalry  and  discord,  and 
it  is  sincerely  hoped  and  believed  that,  in  this  instance, 
conflicting  opinions  have  been  the  result  of  misapprehension 
or  mistake.  The  great  institution  of  the  United  States 
keeps  them  all  in  check,  and  should,  at  the  same  time,  keep 
them  all  in  union. 

The  expenses  incurred  by  the  reception  of  General 
Lafayette,  amount  to  $7,198  32,  as  you  will  see  by  the 
accounts  and  vouchers  which  are  exhibited.'  The  Execu- 
tive had,  in  this  instance,  received  an  unlimited  power  over 
the  public  treasure,  which  ou^ht  never  to  be  confided  but 
upon  very  extraordinary  occasions.  It  is  due  to  the  public, 
as  well  as  to  the  officer  charged  with  the  disbursement,  to 
institute  a  strict  inquiry  into  the  expenditure ;  thus  ex- 
acting, as  far  as  practicable  after  the  expenditure,  that 
accountability  which,  in  ordinary  cases,  ought  to  be  secured 
before.  The  orders  given  to  my  Aids-de-Camp,  who 
were  charged  with  their  execution,  enjoined  on  them  the 
strictest  economy  :  and,  all  circumstances  considered,  they 
have  not  disappointed  my  expectations. 

Since  your  last  meeting,  our  feelings  have  been  again  out- 
raged by  officious  and  impertinent  intermeddlings  with  our 
domestic  concerns.  Besides  the  resolution  presented  for 
the  consideration  of  the  Senate,  by  Mr.  King,  of  New  York, 
it  is  understood  that  the  Attorney-General  of  the  United 
States,  who  may  be  presumed  to  represent  his  Government 
faithfully,  and  to  speak  as  its  mouth-piece,  has  recently 
maintained,  before  the  Supreme  Court,  doctrines  on  this 
subject,  which,  if  sanctioned  by  that  tribunal,  will  make  it 
quite  easy  for  the  Congress,  by  a  short  decree,  to  divest 
this  entire  interest,  without  cost  to  themselves  of  one  dollar, 
or  of  one  acre  of  public  land.  This  is  the  uniform  prac- 
tice of  the  Government  of  the  United  States  ;  if  it  wishes 
a  principle  established  which  it  dare  not  establish  for 
itself,  a  case  is  made  before  the  Supreme  Court,  and,  the 
principle  once  settled,  the  act  of  Congress  follows  of 
course.  Soon,  very  soon,  therefore,  the  United  States 


CHAP.  X.]  EFFECT  OP  THE  MESSAGE.  299 

Government,  discarding  the  mask,  will  openly  lend  itself 
to  a  combination  of  fanatics  for  the  destruction  of  every- 
thing valuable  in  the  Southern  country.  One  movement  of 
the  Congress  unresisted  by  you,  and  all  is  lost.  Temporize 
no  longer — make  known  your  resolution  that  this  subject 
shall  not  be  touched  by  them,  but  at  their  peril.  But  for 
its  sacred  guaranty  by  the  Constitution,  we  never  would 
have  become  parties  to  that  instrument ;  at  this  moment 
you  would  not  make  yourself  parties  to  any  Constitution 
without  it ;  of  course,  you  will  not  be  a  party  to  it  from 
the  moment  the  General  Government  shall  make  that 
movement. 

If  this  matter  be  an  evil,  it  is  our  own — if  it  be  a  sin, 
we  can  implore  the  forgiveness  of  it — to  remove  it,  we  ask 
not  either  their  sympathy  or  assistance:  it  may  be  our 
physical  weakness — it  is  our  moral  strength.  If,  like  the 
Greeks  and  Romans,  the  moment  we  cease  to  be  masters, 
we  are  slaves — we  thenceforth  minister,  like  the  modern 
Italians,  to  the  luxury  and  pleasures  of  our  masters — poets, 
painters,  musicians  and  sculptors  we  may  be — the  moral 
qualities,  however,  which  would  make  us  fair  partakers  of 
the  grandeur  of  a  great  empire,  would  be  gone.  We  would 
stand  stripped  ancT  desolate,  under  a  fervid  sun  and  upon  a 
generous  soil,  a  mockery  to  ourselves,  and  the  very  con- 
trast of  what,  with  a  little  firmness  and  foresight,  we  might 
have  been.  I  entreat  you,  therefore,  most  earnestly,  now 
that  it  is  not  too  late,  to  step  forth,  and,  having  exhausted 
the  argument,  to  stand  by  your  arms. 

Your  fellow- citizen, 

G.  M.  TEOUP. 

The  reading  of  this  document  produced  a  profound  sen- 
sation in  both  Houses ;  and  the  message  became  at  once  an 
important  topic  of  comment  in  and  out  of  the  State.  It 
was  not  to  be  expected  that  the  political  party  opposed  to 
the  Governor  would  say  much  in  its  praise  ;  whilst,  with  his 
friends,  it  served  to  increase,  if  possible,  their  admiration 
for  the  man  and  the  magistrate.  It  was  freely  and  un- 
sparingly commented  on  by  Northern  journals,  the  conduc- 
tors of  some  of  which  professed  to  regard  its  author  as  the 
mad  Governor  of  Georgia. 

The  portion  of  the  message  which  produced  most  excite- 
ment out  of  the  State,  was  that  which  related  to  the  ques- 


300  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUT.  [CHAP.  X. 

tion  of  slavery  ;  and  it  is  due  to  the  Governor  and  the  then 
Attorney-General  of  the  United  States,  that  some  special 
reference  be  here  made  to  it.  On  the  18th  of  February, 
1825,  Hon.  Rufus  King,  of  New  York,  laid  on  the  table  of 
the  U.  S.  Senate,  for  "future  consideration,"  the  following 
resolution  : 

"Resolvedly  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  of  America, 
That,  as  soon  as  the  portion  of  the  existing  funded  debt  of 
the  United  States,  for  the  payment  of  which  the  public 
land  of  the  United  States  is  pledged,  shall  have  been  paid 
off,  then  and  thenceforth,  the  whole  of  the  public  land  of 
the  United  States,  with  the  net  proceeds  of  all  future  sales 
thereof,  shall  constitute  and  form  a  fund,  which  is  hereby 
appropriated,  and  the  faith  of  the  United  States  is  pledged, 
that  the  said  fund  shall  be  inviolably  applied  to  aid  the 
emancipation  of  such  slaves,  within  any  of  the  United 
States,  and  to  aid  the  removal  of  such  slaves,  and  the  re- 
moval of  such  free  persons  of  color,  in  any  of  the  said 
States,  as,  by  the  laws  of  the  States,  respectively,  may  be 
allowed  to  be  emancipated,  or  removed  to  any  territory  or 
country  without  the  limits  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica." 

This,  although  not  the  origin  of  the  slavery  agitation, 
was  certainly  a  bold  movement  in  support  of  the  fanaticism 
which  has  ever  since  disturbed  the  peace  and  threatened 
the  integrity  of  the  Union ;  and  fully  justified  the  withering 
denunciation  and  haughty  defiance  of  Governor  Troup. 

The  House  of  Representatives  having  requested  the 
Governor  to  lay  before  it  "  the  evidence  on  which  he  founds 
his  remarks,  in  his  message  relative  to  the  interference  of 
the  United  States  government  with  our  domestic  affairs," 
he  returned  the  following  message  : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,       ) 
M/U<-<Ifj<-i>ifl<',  1th   June,  1825.  ) 

I  had  hoped  that  in  submitting  to  the  Legislature  the  reso- 
lution of  Mr.  King,  the  abstract  from  the  government  paper, 
the  several  resolutions  of  the  legislatures  of  certain  States, 
and  the  reference  to  the  doctrines  maintained  by  the 
Attorney-General  before  the  Supreme  Court  at  Washing- 
ton, in  cases  involving  the  question  of  slavery  or  no  slavery, 
and  had  expressed  my  own  opinions  upon  them,  I  had  done 


CHAP.  X.]  SPECIAL  MESSAGE.  301 

enough.  In  cheerful  compliance,  however,  with  the  ex- 
pressed wishes  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  I  make 
this  further  communication. 

Even  from  the  moment  we  became  parties  to  the  Union, 
notwithstanding  the  guaranties  of  this  interest  by  the 
Constitution,  efforts  have  been  made  to  render  unavailing 
those  guaranties,  to  make  inroads  upon  the  subject  of  them, 
in  various  modes,  sometimes  by  open  assaults,  sometimes 
by  covert  acts,  equally  injurious  to  the  interests  involved 
as  disgraceful  to  the  parties  inflicting  the  injury.  Through- 
out this  period  and  to  the  present  moment,  we  have 
defended  ourselves  by  memorial,  remonstrance,  resolutions, 
supplications,  &c.  All  reflecting  men  had  foreseen  that 
these  might  serve  the  purposes  of  the  times,  because,  as 
God  would  have  it,  for  those  times  the  strength  and 
courage  were  with  us.  Now,  the  times  are  changed.  The 
strength  has  departed,  and  they  would  destroy  the  interest, 
that  they  might  destroy  the  moral  principle  which  sustains 
it.  The  spirit  which  animates  these  disturbers  of  our 
peace,  is  of  no  ordinary  kind — it  is  the  same  as  that  which 
rallied  under  the  banner  of  the  cross,  and  propagated 
religion  by  the  sword — it  sticks  at  no  measures,  it  weeps 
over  no  distress  ;  but,  believing  all  means  justifiable  and 
holy  and  consecrated,  marches  to  its  object  without  regard 
to  age  or  sex,  and  wars  even  with  the  sleep  of  the  cradle. 
This  is  the  very  spirit  of  fanaticism.  But  the  other  day,  I 
sent  you  the  resolution  of  the  State  of  Delaware,  formerly 
with  us — now  against  us.  Maryland,  losing  her  interest, 
will  soon  follow  her  example.  The  resolution  of  Mr.  King, 
preposterous  as  it  is,  is  just  as  likely  to  succeed  as  any  other 
silly  thing. 

Mr.  King,  certainly  one  of  the  most  able  men  in  council 
that  his  country  has  produced,  proposes  to  buy  out  our  inter- 
est with  our  own  property.  Mr.  King,  in  token  of  the  high 
value  set  upon  this  special  service,  is  sent  Ambassador  to 
England,  to  refresh  his  memory  there  with  the  law  in  Som- 
erset's case,  *  which  is.ulso  a  favorite  one  with  our  learned 
Attorney-General.  The  government  paper  at  Washington, 
daring  more  than  had  ever  been  dared,  announces  that  this 


*  Reported  as  Somerset  v?.  Stewart,  in  Lofft's  Rep.,  1.  Chancellor  Kent  says  of  it:  "In 
the  case  of  Somerset,  in  1772,  who  was  a  negro  slave,  carried  by  his  master  from  America 
to  England,  and  there  confinec',  in  order  to  be  sent  to  the  West  Indies,  he  was  discharged 
by  the  K.  B.,  upon  habeas  cormts,  after  a  very  elaborate  discussion,  and  npon  the  ground  that 
slavery  did  not  and  could  not  exist  in  England,  under  the  English  law."  2  Kent's  Com  :  248. 
—En. 


302  LIFE  OP  GEORGE    M.  TROUP.  [Ciup.  X. 

is  the  appointed  time.*  The  Attorney-General,  represent- 
ing the  United  States,  says  before  the  Supremo  Court, 
in  a  ripe  and  splendid  argument,  that  slavery,  being 
inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  God  and  nature,  cannot  exist. 
Do  we  want  more,  or  shall  we  wait  until,  the  principle 
being  decided  against  us,  the  execution  issues,  and  the 
entire  property,  put  up  at  public  auction,  is  bought  in 
from  the  proceeds  of  our  public  lands  ?  This  is  left  to  your  de- 
cision. The  United  States  can  choose  between  our  enmity 
and  our  love;  and,  when  you  offer  them  the  choice,  you 
perform  the  last  gnd  holiest  of  duties.  They  have  nilnpu-il 
a  conceit,  and,  if  they  love  that  more  than  they  love  us,  they 
will  cling  to  it  and  throw  us  off.  But  it  will  be  written  in 
your  history,  that  you  did  not  separate  from  the  household 
without  adopting  the  fraternal  language — choose  ye,  this 
day,  between  our  friendship  and  that  worthless  idol  you 
have  set  up  and  worshipped. 

G.  M.  TKOIP. 

Accompanying  this  message,  was  a  correspondence  be- 
tween the  Governor  and  Col.  Seaborn  Jones.  In  his  letter 
to  Col.  Jones,  dated  Oth  June,  Gov.  Troup  said  : 

"  Be  pleased  to  state  if  you  were  not  present  at  "Washing- 
ton, during  the  late  session  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  if, 
in  a  cause  or  causes  depending  therein,  and  involving  the 
question  of  slavery  or  no  slavery,  you  did  not  understand 
the  Attorney-General  to  assume  and  maintain  the  general 
doctrine  that  slavery  could  not  exist  consistently  with  the 
laws  of  God  and  nature,  &c." 

In  his  reply,  Col.  Jones  said  : 

"I  have  just  received  your  note  of  to-day,  inquiring  for 
what  I  heard  from  the  Attorney-General  of  tne  United 
States^  on  the  subject  of  slavery.  I  regretted  very  much, 
at  the  time  the  argument  was  made  by  Mr.  Wirt,  in  an 
African  case,  involving  the  question  of  slavery,  that  I  did 

*  The  National  Journal,  a  paper  then  recently  t  -tabliBhcd,  and  understood  to  bo  the 
organ  of  Mr.  Adams,  had,  a  short  time  before,  said  :    '•  The  sovereignty  of  St.  Domingo  in 
the  possession  of  the  blacks,  tin-  freed. >m  arcurdrd  to  that   lescription  of  persons  in  various 
parts  of  South  America,  the  incipient  measured  adopted  by  tlio  Knglish  Government  f 
liberty  of  the  slaves  in  the  Bri'  i:id  tha    sympathy  felt  by  all 

Christendom  for  the  sufferings  of  that  unfortunate  race  of  beings,  can  only  terminate  in 
their  liberation  from  bondage.  Such  an  evriii,  whirli  will  but  nnui.tuly  flffuct  the  prijo.  :i:i.l 
not  at  all  the  safety,  of  th'-  .  •  ii y  liavo  a  powerful  influence  on 

the  feelings  r.nd  welfare  of  the  United  St.itc.-s.  //  is  time,  tkcr<  fort,  to  look  seriously  to  this 
matter,  and  to  come  to  some.  d>\tln<tt  resolution  ai  to  the  cortinuance  or  total  abolition  of 
slavery  among  tw,"  <fc.,  dx. — JiD. 


CHAP.  X.]  GOV.  TROUP  AND  JUDGE  BERRIEN.  303 

not  hear  the  whole  of  it.  It  was  my  good  fortune  only 
to  hear  a  part  of  his  argument,  and  I  cannot  say  definitely 
and  certainly  that,  in  the  part  of  the  argument  I  heard,  he 
did  advance  and  maintain  the  position  that  slavery  was 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  God  and  nature.  After  his  ar- 
gument was  over,  I  certainly  heard,  in  general  conversation, 
that  he  had  assumed  such  a  position ;  and,  on  the  next  day, 
when  Mr.  Ingersoll,  of  Philadelphia,  argued  the  Portuguese 
claim  for  the  claimants,  he  made  his  argument  an  answer 
to  the  one  the  Attorney-General  had  made  in  the  Spanish 
claim,  (on  the  part  of  the  United  States,)  he  distinctly 
stated  that  Mr.  Wirt  had  laid  down  such  a  doctrine,  and 
he  proceeded  to  combat  it.  Whether  Mr.  Wirt  did  or  did 
not  do  so,  I  am  unable  positively  to  state — but  he  was 
present  when  Mr.  Ingersoll  stated  it,  and  did  not  object  to 
the  statement.  I  have  the  more  distinct  recollection  on 
the  subject,  as  I  then  thought  that  the  Virginian  and 
Pennsylvanian  had  changed  sides." 

Besides  the  foregoing,  the  Governor  stated,  substantially : 
That  a  few  days  before  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature, 
he  conversed  with  the  Hon.  J.  M.  Berrien,  Senator  in  the 
Congress  of  the  United  States,  on  the  subject  of  our  slave 
property,  and  the  danger  to  which  it  was  exposed  by  the 
repeated  attacks  of  other  States  and  of  the  United  States : 
lie  said  the  crisis  was  an  awful  one,  and  that  no  time  was 
to  be  lost  in  taking  measures  of  defence  ;  he  had  very 
recently  the  best  opportunity  to  understand  the  views  of 
the  General  Government  in  relation  to  it ;  that  the  doc- 
trines delivered  by  the  Attorney-General,  before  the 
Supreme  Court,  were  extreme,  and  of  the  most  alarming 
character — neither  more  nor  less  than  that  slavery  could 
not  exist,  being  contrary  to  the  laws  of  God  and  nature, 
&c. ;  that  he  was  engaged  as  counsel  in  one  or  more  of  the 
cases  involving  this  doctrine,  and  that  he  regretted  exceed- 
ingly that  the  reply  had  not  been  allowed  him — he  said 
the  Legislature  should  take  up  the  subject  seriously;  that 
he  (the  Governor,)  answered  that  he  was  determined  to 
present  it  in  the  strongest  light,  &c.,  &c. :  that  Judge  Ber- 
rien adverted  particularly  to  the  great  excitement  against 
us,  produced  by  these  appeals  both  to  the  court  and  auditory. 

Mr.  Wirt  having  afterwards  denied  that  he  uttered  the 
sentiments  imputed  to  him,  it  is,  perhaps,  due  to  the  mem- 


304:  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

ory  of  Judge  Berrien  and  that  of  Gov.  Troup,  that  the  fol- 
lowing correspondence  should  appear  in  the  biography  of 
the  latter.  It  occurred  before  the  publication  of  Mr.  Wirt's 
denial,  but  was  not  made  public  until  afterwards. 

SAVANNAU,  28th  June,  I;M;.\ 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  seen,  in  the  Georgia  Patriot  of  the 
14th  inst,  an  article,  purporting  to  be  a  statement  made  by 
you  to  the  Legislature,  of  a  conversation  between  you  and 
myself,  which  occurred  during  my  last  visit  to  Milledge- 
ville,  and  cannot  avoid  expressing  to  you  the  surprise  and 
regret  it  has  excited.  When  I  saw,  in  your  first  communi- 
cation, the  manner  in  which  you  had  noticed  the  subject  of 
the  interference  of  other  States  in  our  domestic  concerns, 
I  was  struck  with  the  singularity  of  your  having  transferred 
(what  I  presumed  you  believed  to  be,)  the  substance  of  a 
private,  unofficial  conversation,  to  a  public,  official  docu- 
ment, without  consulting  me  to  know  whether  your  recol- 
lection of  that  conversation  was  accurate — whether  I  would 
consent  to  be  brought  before  the  Legislature  in  that  manner 
— or,  in  fact,  giving  me  the  slightest  intimation  of  your 
intention  thus  to  present  me  to  the  public.  When,  subse- 
quently, a  call  for  information  was  made  on  me  by  the 
Chairman  of  a  committee  of  the  House  of  Representatives, 
I  was  forced  to  the  conclusion  that  you  had  given  my  name 
to  that  committee  ;  and,  in  my  reply,  written  at  the  instant, 
after  mentioning  this  impression,  I  proceeded  to  make  a 
brief  statement  of  what  I  had  said.  If  that  letter  was 
shown  to  you,  as,  from  reference  to  some  circumstances,  it 
seems  may  have  been  the  fact,  before  your  statement,  of 
the  6th  June,  was  made,  I  have  then  to  complain  that  you 
should  have  persevered  in  that  statement,  after  my  explan- 
ation to  Mr.  Lumpkin  ;  and  with  the  disposition,  in  relation 
to  me,  which  such  a  measure  would  manifest  on  your  part, 
I  should,  of  course,  be  relieved  from  the  feeling  towards 
you  which  now  embarrasses  me.  I  prefer  to  adopt  the 
contrary  conclusion.  I  am  unwilling,  perhaps  unable,  at 
the  moment,  to  shake  off  the  feelings  springing  from  a 
friendship  of  more  than  twenty  years  ;  and  I  cannot  forget 
that,  under  the  operation  of  these,  and  from  a  belief  that 
the  public  interest  would  be  promoted  by  your  success,  I 
omitted  no  honorable  exertion  to  aid  your  election  to  the 
office  which  you  now  fill.  Under  the  combined  influence 
of  these  considerations,  I  am  extremely  unwilling  to  do  any 
thing  of  which  your  enemies  might  avail  themselves  to  your 


CHAP.  X.]  LETTER  OF  JUDGE  BERRIEX.  305 

injury.  But  the  situation  in  which  I  am  placed  before  the 
public,  by  your  communication,  and  subsequent  statement, 
is  one  in  which  I  cannot  consent  to  remain.  I  have  made 
no  such  assertions  as  may  be  inferred  from  that  statement. 
On  the  contrary,  you  have  misunderstood  both  the  tenor 
and  object  of  my  observations.  The  African  case,  in  which 
I  am  of  counsel  with  the  State,  having  been  the  subject  of 
conversation  between  us,  I  was  naturally  led  to  advert  to 
the  disposition  to  interfere  with  our  domestic  concerns  of 
that  port,  which  I  thought  had  been  manifested  during  the 
last  winter  at  Washington.  I  considered  the  resolution  of 
Mr.  King  as  strongly  evincing  such  a  disposition,  and  I 
thought  that  the  sentiments  which  I  heard  expressed,  and 
those  which  I  understood  were  expressed  in  the  case  of  the 
Ramirez,*  and  the  conversations  out  of  doors,  to  which  the 
argument  of  that  case  gave  rise,  were  calculated  to  excite 
a  restlessness  among  our  colored  population,  which  might 
be  productive  of  the  most  awful  consequences.  I,  there- 
fore, suggested  to  you,  as  I  had  done  to  others,  my  opinion 
that  these  consequences  ought  to  be  met,  and  would  be 
most  effectually  averted,  by  concurrent  resolutions  of  the 
Legislatures  of  the  Southern  States,  declaring  this  subject 
to  be  exclusively  within  their  own  particular  cognizance, 
and  asking  Congress  to  abstain  from  intermeddling  with  it. 
I  spoke  to  you  of  the  purport  of  the  arguments  of  counsel,  so 
far  as  I  had  heard  them,  and  of  those  which  had  been  ascribed 
to  counsel  whom  I  did  not  hear.  I  told  you  that  I  consid- 
ered the  doctrines  advanced,  as  alarming,  and  that,  with  the 
feeling  which,  as  a  Southern  man,  they  excited  in  me,  I 
should  have  been  glad  of  an  opportunity  of  replying,  which 
the  order  of  the  discussion  did  not  allow  to  me  ;  but  I  told 
you,  also,  that  I  was  not  present  when  the  argument  of  the 
Attorney-General  was  delivered  ;  that  the  Supreme  Comt 
did  not  sustain  these  doctrines ;  and  I  expressed  to  you  no 
opinion  that  the  government  of  the  United  States  had  any 
concern  in  urging  this  discussion.  I  could  entertain  no 
such  opinion,  as  I  had  been  informed  that  the  Attorney- 
General  had,  at  a  previous  term,  given  up  the  case  on  the 
part  of  the  government,  and  that  it  was  retained  at  the  in- 
stance of  a  member  of  the  Colonization  Society.  I  had  not 
the  most  distant  conception  that  any  observation  of  mine 
could  have  led  you  to  think  of  intimating  to  the  Legisla- 
ture that  an  appeal  to  arms  might  become  necessary.  I 

*  Reported  as  the  Antelope,  in  Wheaton's  Reports  of  tue  decisions  of  the  U.  S.  Supremo 
Court,  vol.  10,  beginning  at  page  C6. — ED. 

39 


306  L*rE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

had  in  view,  simply,  a  decisive,  but  temperate,  expression 
by  the  Legislatures  of  the  Southern  States,  of  their  feelings 
on  this  subject ;  and,  so  little  did  I  anticipate  such  a  course, 
that  when  you  suggested  the  inquiry,  whether  you  ought 
not  to  communicate  the  subject  to  the  Legislature,  at  their 
extra  session,  I  told  you  I  thought  it  was  unnecessary,  as 
the  regular  session  would  occur  before  the  meeting  of 
Congress,  and  the  Legislatures  of  other  States  would  then 
be  convened. 

With  this  view  of  the  conversation  which  I  had  with 
you,  and  without  insisting,  as  I  think  I  might  do,  that  you 
should  not  have  drawn  me  before  the  public,  unless  with 
my  own  consent,  I  now  simply  repeat  that.  1  cannot  agree' 
to  stand  before  that  public  in  the  attitude  in  which  L  am 
placed.  If  you  can  suggest  any  mode  which  1  can  M  ith 
propriety  adopt,  by  which  I  can  retire  from  it,  without  in- 
jury to  you,  I  shall  be  gratified.  Acquitting  you,  as  I  do, 
unhesitati-  gly,  of  any  intention  to  misrepresent  me,  I  regret 
very  much  that  this  misconception  should  have  occurred  at 
a  moment  when  the  circumstances  may,  by  perversion,  bo 
used  to  your  injury  ;  but  the  views  which  you  have  received 
from  this  conversation,  and  have  communicated  to  the 
Legislature,  are  so  variant  from  those  which  1  entertained, 
and  which  I  have  thought,  and  still  think,  best  calculated 
to  rally  the  Southern  States  around  a  cause  which  is  com- 
mon to  them  all,  that  I  cannot  consent  todiminish  the  little 
prospect  which  I  have  of  being  in  any  degree  useful  in  the 
National  Councils,  by  being  considered  as  having  originated 
them. 

Pray  let  me  hear  from  you,  soon,  and  believe  me 
Yours,  truly, 

JN:  MACPHERSOX  BERKIKX. 
Governor  Troup. 

MILLKDGEVILLE,  2d  July,  1825. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  received  your  letter  of  ihe  2Sth  ult., 
this  morning,  and  am  sorry  that  any  misconception  ot  the 
conversation  in  relation  to  the  slave  question,  should  have 
occurred  or  given  you  the  least  inquietude.  The  purport  of 
the  conversation  on  your  part,  was  nothing,  f-s  I  understood, 
but  a  recapitulation  of  circumstances  which  occurred  at 
Washington,  of  public  notoriety  there,  as  they  soon  would 
be  everywhere,  and  the  impression  which  those  circum- 
stances made  on  your  mind.  I  did  not  suppose  you  further 
acquainted  with  the  views  of  the  general  government  than 


CHAP.  X.]  GOV.  TROUT'S  REPLY.  307 

those  circumstances  disclosed,  or  the  opportunities  which 
your  presence  there  might  afford  you  of  acquiring  them, 
much  less  with  any  definite  or  specific  projects  which  that 
government  might  have  in  contemplation  ;  and  I  distinctly 
remember  you  to  have  said  that  the  decision  of  the  Supreme 
Court  had  not  sanctioned  the  doctrines  of  the  Attorney- 
General,  a  fact  very  well  understood  when  the  message  was 
penned.  Indeed,  in  all  these  things  you  are  at  liberty  to 
consult  your  own  memory,  as  equally  good  with  mine  ;  but, 
suffer  me  to  say,  you  have  adopted  a  very  erroneous  con- 
clusion in  believing  that  an  impression  may  have  been  de- 
si,  ned  to  be  made,  that  the  particular  part  of  the  message 
to  which  you  have  referred,  and  which  has  given  rise  to  so 
many  and  such  liberal  remarks,  was  the  offspring  of  your 
suggestion,  or  in  consequence  of  anything  emanating  from 
you.  So  far  from  it,  the  disclosures  made  by  you  in  that 
conversation,  formed  but  a  small  part  of  the  matter  upon 
which  that  part  of  the  message  was,  after  mature  deliber- 
ation, framed.  I  assure  you  that  I  would  not,  on  any  ac- 
count, that  you  should  participate,  in  the  least  degree,  the 
responsibility  of  the  adoption  and  promulgation  of  that 
sentiment — nor  shall  any  body  else.  I  claim  both  the  idea 
and  the  language  embodied  there,  as  my  exclusive  prop- 
erty ;  and,  in  the  enjoyment  of  it,  I  do  not  see  that  there 
is  much  likelihood  of  my  suffering  interruption.  Never- 
theless, it  is  a  sentiment  approved  by  every  re-consider- 
ation of  it,  and  one  which  will  be  sedulously  impressed 
upon  my  children. 

That  the  resolution  of  Mr.  King,  and  the  sentiments  you 
heard  expressed,  connected  with  it,  and  those  which  you 
understood  were  expressed  in  the  case  of  the  Ramirez,  and 
the  conversations  out  of  doors,  to  which  the  argument  of 
that  case  gave  rise,  were  calculated  to  excite  a  restlessness 
among  our  colored  population,  which  might  be  productive 
of  the  most  awful  consequences,  and  your  considering  the 
doctrines  advanced  by  the  Attorney-General  and  others,  as 
you  understood  them,  alarming,  were  all  the  facts  of  any 
importance,  according  to  my  estimate'  of  them.  It  was 
well  known  that  they  were  the  views  of  the  general  govern- 
ment only,  from  which  we  had  anything  to  fear ;  and  whether 
you  expressed  any  particular  knowledge  of  these  views,  or 
not,  we  were  at  liberty  to  infer  them  from  the  facts  dis- 
closed. Neither  in  dictating  that  part  of  the  message, 
therefore,  nor  in  devising  a  remedy  for  the  evil  complained 
of,  were  you  or  any  body  consulted,  or  more  than  a  due 
weight  given  to  your  disclosures. 


308  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CiiAP.  X. 

Reference  was  unhesitatingly  made  to  that  conversation, 
because  that  you  were  a  Senator  of  this  State  in  the  Con- 
gress of  the  United  States,  and  it  became  your  duty  to 
make  known  to  this  government  whatever  transpired  at 
Washington  prejudicial  to  its  interests.  Having  sought  an 
early  opportunity,  informally  to  do  so,  I  thought  you  entitled 
to  credit ;  and,  accordingly,  at  the  call  of  the  Legislature, 
submitted  to  it  the  paper  to  which  you  have  alluded. 

Cordially   reciprocating  the   friendly  sentiments   you 
express, 

I  remain,  very  truly,  yours, 

G.  M.  TKOUP. 
The  Hon.  J.  M.  Berrien. 

P.  S.    You  are  at  liberty  to  use  this  letter  as  you  please. 

G.  M.  T. 

On  the  2d  of  July,  1825,  Mr.  Wirt  addressed  a  letter  to 
the  Chief  and  Associate  Justices  of  the  Supreme  Court, 
to  the  Reporter,  and  to  Thomas  Addis  Emmet,  Esq.,  as 
follows : 

"  In  a  late  official  communication  by  Gov.  Troup  to  the 
Legislature  of  Georgia,  I  find  myself  charged  with  having 
maintained  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United 
States,  at  the  last  term,  the  proposition  'that  slavery,  being 
inconsistent  with  the  laws  of  God  and  nature,  cannot 
exist.'  Will  you  do  me  the  justice  to  say,  in  reply, 
whether,  either  your  notes  of  argument,  or  your  recollec- 
tion, impute  that  proposition  to  me,  or  any  sentiment  or 
opinion  that  slavery,  as  it  now  exists  in  the  several 
States,  could  or  ought  to  be  abolished,  or  be  attempted  to  be 
abolished,  or  interfered  with  at  all  by  the  authority  of  the 
government  of  the  United  States." 

We  have  not  space  for  the  full  replies  given  to  this 
inquiry.  The  following  extracts  may  suffice.  The  Chief 
Justice  said  : 

"  I  have  no  recollection  of  your  having  uttered,  in  any 
form,  the  sentiment  imputed  to  you.  Hie  impression  on 
my  mind  is,  that  you  denounced  the  slave  trade,  not  slavery  ; 
the  practice  of  making  freemen  slaves,  not  that  of  holding 
in  slavery  those  who  were  born  slaves." 

Judge  Washington  said : 

"I  feel  no  hesitation  in  answering,  that  no  part  of  your 


CHAP.  X.]  MR.  WTRT'S  DEFENCE.  309 

argument  maintained  any  or  either  of  these  propositions 
directly,  nor  did  the  general  scope  of  it  warrant,  in  my 
opinion,  the  deduction  of  any  such  sentiment." 

Judge  Duvall  said  : 

"  I  answer,  without  hesitation,  that  I  have  no  recollection 
whatever  that  you  maintained  the  proposition  imputed  to 
you  by  Governor  Troup,  in  the  argument  of  the  cause 
before-mentioned,  or  in  any  other  cause.  ***** 
If  you  had  made  use  of  such  an  argument,  it  would  not 
have  escaped  my  notice.  You  contended  that  the  slave 
trade  is  not  countenanced  by  the  law  of  nations  ;  that,  by 
the  existing  law  of  nations,  it  is  unlawful ;  that  these  Afri- 
cans were  under  the  protection  of  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  and,  prima  facie,  free  by  those  laws,  &c.,  &c." 

Judge  Thompson  said : 

"  I  have  looked  over  my  notes  of  your  argument  in  the 
case  referred  to,  and  do  not  find  that  I  have  noted  any 
such  unqualified  proposition  being  laid  down  by  you.  Nor 
have  I  the  least  recollection  of  your  urging  any  such  senti- 
ment in  the  sense  imputed  to  you.  And  I  am  persuaded 
it  would  have  made  a  strong  impression  on  my  mind,  if 
you  had  endeavored  to  establish  the  proposition  that 
slavery  did  not,  at  this  time,  legally  exist  in  our  country, 
or  that  the  courts  of  justice  were  not  bound  to  recognize 
its  existence,  and  to  respect  and  enforce  the  laws  in  rela- 
tion to  it.  And  I  think  your  argument  could  not,  in 
justice,  warrant  a  conclusion  that  you  intended,  in  any 
manner  whatever,  to  call  in  question  the  laws  of  the  South- 
ern States  on  the  subject  of  slavery." 

Mr.  Emmet  (who  stated,  also,  that  the  "  recollections" 
of  Mr.  D.  B.  Ogden  agreed  with  his  own,)  said : 

"  So  far  as  relates  to  what  is  there  ('the  official  com- 
munication from  Governor  Troup,')  imputed  to  you,  I  can 
confidently  say  that  the  statement  is  incorrect.  *  *  *  * 
You  spoke  of  slavery  in  the  United  States,  as  an  evil 
inflicted  on  the  colonies  by  the  mother  country,  and  for 
which  they  ought  to  be  pitied,  and  not  blamed;  and 
though  I  cannot  cite  your  words,  I  collected,  from  what 
you  said,  that  you  regarded  it  as  an  evil  which  must  be 
submitted  to.  I  am  confident  you  expressed  no  opinion 
that  slavery,  as  it  now  exists  in  the  several  States,  can  be 
or  ought  to  be  abolished,  or  attempted  to  le  abolished,  or 


310  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

interfered  with  at  all,  ly  the  authority  of  the  Government 
of  the  United  Stai 

[The  italics  are  Mr.  Emmet's.] 
Mr.  Wheaton,  the  Reporter,  said  : 

"  I  have  great  pleasure  in  being  able  to  state,  both  from 
recollection  and  from  my  notes  taken  at  the  time,  that 
neither  of  those  propositions  was  maintained  by  you  before 
the  Court." 

Now,  assuming  it  to  be  true  that  the  Attorney-General,  in 
no  part  of  his  argument,  "  maintained  (in  the  language  of 
Judge  Washington,)  any  or  either  of  these  propositions  di- 
rectly," and  that  the  denial  of  Mr.  Wirt,  who  was  a  Christian 
gentleman,  is  sufficient  to  show  that  he  did  not  admit  the 
right  of  the  Federal  Government  to  interfere  with  the  insti- 
tution of  slavery  in  the  States,  yet  it  appears  equally  clear 
that,  in  the  case  actually  before  the  Court,  it  was  entirely  un- 
necessary for  him  to  t=peak  of  "  slavery  in  the  United  A'' 
as  an  evil  MifliaUdontJiA  colonies  l>y  the  motJier  country,  and 
for  which  tluy  owjht  to  be  pitied."  Was  not  this  declar- 
ation calculated  to  "excite  a  restlessness"  to  which  Jud^e. 
Berrien  referred  ?  That  Mr.  Wirt,  in  the  "  ripe  and  splendid 
argument"  which  he  delivered,  used  expressions  which  he 
ought  ever  to  have  regretted,  and  which  he  did  regret, 
seems  probable ;  that  some  of  his  remarks  were  injudi- 
cious, is  proved  by  the  letter  of  Mr.  Emmet. 

In  the  letter  from  which  we  have  already  quoted,  Judge 
Marshall  said :  "  You  stated,  in  terms,  that  you  had  no 
authority  to  speak  the  sentiments  of  the  Government ;  and 
that  the  arguments  you  should  use  were  to  be  considered 
as  entirely  your  own."  And  the  National  Journal,  Mr. 
Adams'  reputed  organ,  and  the  paper  in  which  Mr.  Wirt's 
defence  appeared,  referring  to  this  declaration,  stated  : 
"  This  declaration,  we  are  told,  was  elicited  by  a  paragraph 
which  appeared  in  one  of  the  papers  of  this  city,  on  the 
morning  on  which  the  Attorney-General  was  expected  to 
speak,  intimating  that  the  public  could  now  have  an  op- 
portunity of  hearing,  through  the  Attorney-General,  the 
sentiments  of  the  Executive  on  the  subject  of  the  slave 


CHAP.  X.]  LEGISLATIVE  PROCEEDINGS.  311 

trade,  and  by  a  similar  suggestion  from  one  of  the  counsel 
opposed  to  him."  Still,  the  inquiry  remains  :  why,  even 
in  the  face  of  these  suggestions,  this  solemn  disavowal  of 
his  "  authority  to  speak  the  sentiments  of  the  Government," 
if  what  he  was  about  to  say  was  only  such  as  became  a 
Southern  man,  and  especially  in  a  cause  in  which  it  appears 
the  Government  had  no  concern  ?  If  Governor  Troup  was 
wrong  in  saying,  of  the  Attorney-General,  that  he  was  one 
"  who  may  be  supposed  to  represent  his  government  faith- 
fully and  to  speak  as  its  mouth-piece,"  it  does  not  thence 
follow  that  he  erred  in  denouncing  what  he  believed  to 
have  been  dangerous  doctrines  publicly  uttered  by  a  man 
holding  office  under  that  government. 

We  have  given  to  this  subject  more  space,  probably, 
than  it  deserves  ;  and  we  dismiss  it  with  the  remark,  that, 
whilst  the  occasion  of  the  Governor's  denunciation  is  re- 
gretted, that  regret  is  diminished  by  the  consideration  that 
it  afforded  Governor  Troup  the  opportunity  of  putting  upon 
record,  in  an  official  form,  the  most  eloquent  of  all  his 
noble  admonitions  to  the  people  of  Georgia. 

The  main  object  of  the  assembling  of  the  Legislature  in 
extra  session,  having  been  the  disposition  of  the  lands 
lately  acquired  from  the  Creeks,  a  bill  for  that  purpose 
passed  both  Houses,  and  was  approved  by  the  Governor  on 
the  9th  of  June ;  lor  the  details  of  which,  reference  must  be 
m..de  to  the  Act  itself.  Criminal  jurisdiction  over  the  ter- 
ritory was  attached  to  the  counties  of  Dooly,  Houstoun, 
Pike  and  Fayette. 

The  joint  Committee  on  the  state  of  the  Republic,  "  to 
whom  was  referred  the  subject  of  the  conduct  of  die  Agent 
of  Creek  Indian  affairs,  in  relation  to  the  late  treaty  in 
that  nation  ;  and  also  in  respect  to  the  murder  of  General 
Mclntosh  and  others  of  the  Creek  Chiefs,"  after  hearing 
testimony,  made  a  report,  which  was  agreed  to  in  the  Sen- 
ate, 31  to  18,  and  concurred  in  by  the  House,  64  to  28,  and 
approved  by  the  Governor  on  the  llth  June.  In  the  re- 
port, the  Committee  said  they  did  "  not  see,  in  the  evidence, 


312  LIFE  OF  GEORGE-  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

sufficient  proof  to  justify  them  in  presuming  that  the  Agent 
ordered,  contrived,  or  instigated  the  murder  of  General 
Mclntosh."  It  concluded  with  resolutions  censuring  the 

O 

conduct  of  said  Agent,  in  regard  to  the  treaty,  request- 
ing his  removal  by  the  President ;  and,  in  order  that  "  all 
due  and  proper  proof  of  his  delinquency"  might  be  made, 
instructing  the  Governor  to  "  appoint  two  or  more  fit  and 
proper  persons  to  collect  evidence  therein,"  &c.,  &c.,  and 
requesting  the  Governor  to  transmit  to  the  President  a 
copy  of  the  report,  etc.,  with  the  accompanying  documents, 
or  such  parts  thereof  as  were  not  then  in  his  possession, 
&c.,  &c. 

On  the  7th  of  June,  Col.  Crowell  published  a  card  or 
address  to  the  public,  dated  the  3d.  Speaking  of  the  Gov- 
ernor, he  said:  "And  now  at  his  instigation  the  Legisla- 
ture have  taken  up  the  subject,  and  are,  as  I  understand, 
examining  witnesses  against  me,  without  apprising  me  of 
their  design."  After  protesting  against  this  course,  and 
entreating  a  suspension  of  opinion,  he  added  :  "  An  Agent 
from  the  government  of  the  United  States  is  now  here, 
commissioned  with  full  powers  to  examine  into  all  the  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  it,  and  report  to  his  government." 

During  the  same  session,  a  resolution  of  thanks  was  passed 
to  Messrs.  Campbell  and  Meriwether,  "for  the  firmness, 
perseverance,  zeal  and  patriotism  which  they  have  displayed 
in  procuring  .a  cession  of  territory  so  favorable  to  the  inter- 
est of  Georgia."  Of  the  Governor,  the  Legislature  said : 
"  Our  thanks  are  also  tendered  to  his  Excellency  the  Gover- 
nor^ for  his  active  and  patriotic  efforts  in  expediting  the 
settlement  of  said  territory" 

The  Agent,  to  whom  Col.  Croweli  referred  in  his  card,  as 
having  been  sent  on  to  examine  into  affairs  connected  with 
the  Indian  Agency,  was  Major  T.  P.  Andrews,  who  arrived 
at  Milledgeville,  in  May,  with  dispatches  to  the  Governor 
from  the  War  Department.  On  the  31st  May,  he  commu- 
nicated his  dispatches,  and,  in  his  letter  of  that  date,  said  to 
the  Governor  : 


CHAP.  X.]  GOVERNOR  AND  MAJOR  ANDREWS.  313 

"  I  presume  you  will  be  informed,  by  the  dispatches  now 
handed  you,  that  I  have  been  appointed  by  the  President 
of  the  United  States,  to  examine  into  certain  implied 
charges  against  Col.  Orowell,  the  Indian  Agent,  contained 

in  your  Excellency's  letter  to  the  President,  of  the 

inst.,  as  well  as  others  of  a  direct  and  specific  character, 
made  by  Chilly  Mclntosh  and  other  Chiefs  of  the  Creek 
Nation,  at  Washington.  To  enable  me  to  perform  this 
delicate  and  responsible  trust  with  effect,  I  have  the  honor 
to  request  that  you  will  be  pleased  to  furnish  me  with  any 
charges  and  specifications  which  you  may  have  to  make 
against  the  officer  referred  to,  accompanied  by  any  evidence 
in  your  Excellency's  possession,  relating  thereto,  or  refer- 
ences to  the  sources  whence  such  evidence  may  be  derived," 
&c.,  &c. 

He  also  stated  that  he  would  exercise  the  discretionary 
power  vested  in  him  of  discharging  the  Agent,  should  the 
charges,  or  information  in  possession  of  the  Governor,  de- 
mand it. 

The  Governor  replied  as  follows  : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
Milledgeville,  31st  May,  1825. 

Sir  :  Immediately  on  the  receipt  of  your  communication 
of  this  date,  I  proceeded,  in  compliance  with  the  wishes  of 
the  General  Government,  to  charge  the  Agent  superintend- 
ing the  affairs  of  the  Creek  Indians,  with  : 

1st.  Predetermined  resolution  to  prevent  the  Indians, 
by  all  the  means  in  his  power,  from  making  any  cession  of 
their  lands  in  favor  of  the  Georgians,  and  this  from  the 
most  unworthy  and  most  unjustifiable  of  all  motives. 

2dly.  With  advising  and  instigating,  in  chief,  the  death 
of  Mclntosh  and  his  friends. 

You  are  referred  to  the  documents  connected  with  my 
late  message  to  the  Legislature,  and  to  the  testimony  dis- 
closed and  to  be  disclosed  before  the  committee  charged 
with  the  investigation  of  the  subject  to  which  they  relate, 
and  which  are  submitted  to  you. 

Kespectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

G.  M.  TEOUP. 

To  Major  Andrews, 

Special  Agent  of  the  U.  S., 
Milledgeville. 
40 


314  ™FE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTJP.  [CHAP.  X. 

The  following  is  the  dispatch  of  which  Major  Andrews 
was  the  bearer,  announcing  his  own  appointment  as  special 
agent  to  inquire  into  the  charges  against  the  Indian  Agent, 
and  the  appointment-  of  Gen.  Gaines  to  inquire  into,  and 
check,  if  possible,  the  troubles  in  the  Creek  country  : 

DEI-  ;  OF  WAK,  May  is.  188B. 

Sir:  In  answer  to  your  several  letters  received  at  tin's 
Department  on  the  15th  and  17th  inst.,  I  am  instructed  by 
the  President  to  express  his  deep  regret  at  the  death-;  of 
General  Mclntosh  and  the  other  Creek  Chiefs,  and  the 
shocking  circumstances  with  which  they  were  attended. 
While  your  Excellency  is  understood  to  ascribe  the  cause 
of  these  events  to  the  criminal  conduct  of  the  Agent.  In-, 
by  dispatches  received  some  few  days  past,  states  to  tlii-  I  \  - 
partment  that  your  purpose  of  entering  up<>n  and  surveying 
their  territory,  as  made  known  by  your  proclamation,  had 
produced  in  the  Chief-,  win*  received  it  when  assembled 
in  general  council,  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  their 
annuity,  feelings  of  melancholy  and  great  distress.  Kx- 
ceptions  to  your  measures  were  then  taken  by  them  :  they 
declared  their  assent  had  never  been  given,  and  that  it  had 
not  been  asked.  Those  exceptions  Avere  communicated  l>y 
the  Agent  in  the  letter  above  referred  to,  together  with  the 
request  of  the  Chiefs  that  the  Government,  would  interpose 
its  authority,  and  put  a  stop  to  the  contemplated  survey. 

Whatever  cause  may  have  produced  the  disturbances  and 
bloodshed  which  followed  so  soon  upon  the  breaking  up  of 
that  Council,  has  now  become  a  matter  of  very  subordinate 
consideration,  compared  with  the  means  necessary  to  be 
adopted  to  prevent  their  repetition.  Kemote  from  the  the- 
atre of  action,  with  but  little  information,  and  that  uncer- 
tain, (for  we  have  not  a  word  from  the  Agent,)  as  to  the 
extent  of  the  designs  of  the  Indians,  or  the  scale  on  which 
their  operations  will  be  conducted,  the  President  lias  deemed 
it  advisable,  and  lias  ordered  accordingly,  General  Gaines, 
distinguished  alike  for  his  military  skill  and  for  his  discretion, 
now  in  Georgia,  to  repair  forthwith  to  Milledgeville,  for  the 
purpose  of  consulting  with  your  Excellency,  on  the  measures 
proper  to  be  adopted  in  reference  to  the  actual  posture  of 
affairs  on  his  arrival.  To  him  a  discretion  has  been  given, 
if  in  his  judgment  the  occasion  requires  it,  to  call  on  you 
for  such  portion  of  the  militia  of  Georgia,  to  be  placed  in 
the  service  of  the  United  States,  as  he  thinks  nece>-ary ;  to 
march,  also,  such  portions  of  the  regular  force  as  may  be 


CHAP.  X.]      LETTER  OF  SECRETARY  OF  WAR.         315 

convenient,  to  the  scene  of  operations,  and  to  take  com- 
mand of  the  whole.  By  his  instructions,  he  will  be  ordered 
to  repel  any  hostile  attempt  that  may  be  made  by  the 
Indians  on  the  people  of  Georgia,  and  to  chastise  them  by 
measures  of  retaliation  for  such  attempt,  till  their  suffer- 
ings and  submission  shall  entitle  them  to  clemency.  If 
their  violence  has  been  limited  to  their  own  tribe,  the 
course  to  be  pursued  is  not  without  its  embarrassments. 
The  Government  of  the  United  States,  since  its  establish- 
ment, has,  in  no  case,  it  is  confidently  believed,  forcibly 
interposed  in  the  intestine-  feuds  of  the  Indians.  They 
have  limited  their  interference  to  good  offices  and  friendly 
advice.  To  depart  from  this  policy,  strengthened  by  time 
and  the  approbation  of  the  American  people,  involves  a 
high  and  delicate  responsibility.  On  the  other  hand,  to 
surrender  the  Indians,  friendly  to  the  views  of  the  United 
States,  to  the  unrestrained  ferocity  of  the  hostile  party,  is 
too  shocking  to  humanity  to  permit.  Amid  these  opposing 
difficulties,  the  General  is  instructed  to  enter  the  territory 
of  the  Creeks,  and  extend  protection  to  the  friendly 
party,  but  not  commit  hostilities  on  the  Indians,  unless 
provoked  thereto  by  acts,  on  their  part,  which  may  justify 
such  hostilities.  A  special  messenger  will  be  dispatched 
to  Milledgeville,  on  Friday,  at  farthest,  with  General 
Games'  instructions. 

The  President,  not  yet  being  informed  of  the  measures 
adopted  by  your  Excellency,  cannot,  at  this  time,  take  any 
step  thereon.  Your  promised  communication  will  relieve 
him  from  this  difficulty,  and  immediately  on  its  arrival  will 
receive  his  prompt  attention. 

I  am  instructed  to  say  to  your  Excellency,  that  the 
President  expects,  from  what  has  passed,  as  well  as  from 
the  now  state  of  feeling  among  the  Indians,  that  the 
project  of  surveying  their  territory  will  be  abandoned  by 
Georgia,  till  it  can  be  done  consistently  with  the  provisions 
of  the  treaty. 

"From  the  charges  made  by  your  Excellency,  and  the 
Deputation  here,  against  the  Agent;  Major  Andrews,  pos- 
sessing, from  his  high  character,  the  full  confidence  of  the 
Executive,  has  been  deputed  to  the  Agency  to  inquire  into 
these  charges  and  to  adopt  the  course,  in  reference  to  the 
Agent,  which  he  may  deem  best  calculated  to  promote  the 
public  service. 

Major  Andrews  is  the  baarer  of  the  dispatches  to  Gen. 
Gaines,  and,  as  he  will  pass  through  Milledgeville,  if  you 
have  any  facts  calculated  to  criminate  the  Agent,  an  op- 


316  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.   TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

portunity  will  be  furnished  your  Excellency  to  communicate 
them. 

I  have  the. honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 
His  Excellency  G.  M.  Troup,  JAMES  BARBOTJR. 

Governor  or  Georgia,  Milledgoville. 

The  Governor  replied,  as  follows  : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.      ) 
MHl«]'i> '•//  A',  June  3d,  1825.  j 

Sir :  I  have  received,  by  Major  Andrews,  your  letter 
of  the  18th  ultimo.  The  dispositions  manifested  by  your 
Government  to  do  right  in  all  the  matters  connected  with 
the  subject  of  my  late  communication,  are  only  in  ac- 
cordance with  my  just  expectations.  I  am  happy  that, 
in  the  general,  the  measures  deemed  best  appear  to  be 
appropriate  and  judicious.  Pardon  me  for  making  an  ex- 
ception. In  searching  the  archives  of  your  oftice,  you 
will  find,  at  divers  times,  and  on  various  occasions  repre- 
sentations, made  on  the  conduct  of  the  Agent,  all  or  any 
of  which  should  have  disqualified  him  as  a  competent 
witness  against  the  government  of  the  State  of  (ieorgiu. 
On  the  recent  one  of  the  ratification  of  the  treaty  of  the 
Indian  Springs,  yourselves  pronounced  upon  that  incom- 
petency  in  terms  not  to  be  mistaken.  The  Agent  protested 
airiinst  the  treaty;  the  President  submitted  it  to  the 
Senate,  and  the  Senate  ratified  it  in  contempt  of  that 
protestation.  If  a  single  declaration  of  the  Agent  had 
been  accredited,  the  President  would  not  have  submitted 
it,  the  Senate  would  not  have  ratified  it.  The  last  of  your 
prominent  acts,  therefore,  in  relation  to  this  individual 
places  him  in  an  attitude  before  yourselves,  wlm-h  should 
have  decided  you  to  listen  with  great  caution  and  reserve 
to  any  suggestions  of  his,  connected  with  any  subject 
whatsoever.  Whilst,  on  the  one  hand,  he  presents  him- 
self before  you  as  an  accuser  of  the  chief  of  the  gov- 
ernment of  Georgia,  and  the  accusation  is  neither  more  nor 
less  than  that  the  measures  taken  on  his  part  have  been  the 
only  exciting  causes  to  the  mischiefs  and  crimes  perpetrated 
in  the  nation ;  and  you,  on  the  other  hand,  so  far  sustained 
him  in  this  position,  as  not  only  to  receive  it  willingly,  and 
to  specify  it  distinctly,  but  to  'make  it  the  basis  of  a  most 
erroneous  construction  of  the  treaty  ;  and  in  consequence  of 
that  construction,  to  address  to  me  a  most  extraordinary  re- 
quest of  the  President,  affecting  important  interests  here,  I 
must  pray  you  to  excuse  me,  when  I  say  to  you  in  answer, 
that  I  do  not  feel  myself  treated  in  a  very  kindly  or  very 


CHAP.  X.]      LETTER  TO  SECRETARY  OF  WAR.         317 

generous  spirit,  and  that,  if  treated  in  the  most  kindly 
and  most  generous,  such  an  expectation  would  be  pro- 
nounced at  once  as  unreasonable  on  your  part,  and  certainly 
not  to  be  fulfilled  on  ours.  Is  it  possible  that  the  Presi- 
dent could  have  consulted  the  Indian  treaty,  and  compared 
its  provisions  with  those  of  the  articles  of  agreement  and 
cession,  and,  at  the  same  time  have  indulged  this  ex- 
pectation ?  Without  troubling  you  with  the  argument, 
permit  me  to  state  the  fact.  By  the  treaty  of  the  Indian 
Springs,  the  Indian  claims  are  extinguished  forever.  The 
article  is  worded  in  the  present  tense.*  On  the  instant  of 
the  ratification,  the  title  and  jurisdiction  became  absolute 
in  Georgia,  without  any  manner  of  exception  or  qualifica- 
tion, save  the  single  one  which,  by  the  eighth  article,  gives 
to  the  United  States  the  power  to  protect  the  Indians  in 
their  persons  and  effects,  against  assault  upon  either,  by 
whites  or  Indians.  For  this  purpose,  your  powers  are  quite 
ample  ;  and,  in  proceeding  to  the  survey  of  the  country,  yon 
will  only  find  aids  and  guaranties  on  the  part  of  this  govern- 
ment for  the  faithful  execution  of  the  article.  Beyond 
this  you  cannot  pass.  Soil  and  jurisdiction  go  together, 
and  if  we  have  not  the  right  of  both  at  this  moment,  we 
can  never  have  either  by  better  title.  If  the  absolute 
property  and  the  absolute  jurisdiction  have  not  passed  to 
us,  when  are  they  to  come  ?  Will  you  make  a  formal  con- 
cession of  the  latter — when  and  how  ?  If  the  jurisdiction 
be  separated  from  the  property,  show  the  reservation 
which  separates  it — 'tis  impossible.  You  have  the  same 
remnant  of  it  in  this  case,  as  you  have  by  constitution  and 
treaty  in  all  similar  case?,  where,  treaties  having  guarantied 
the  rights  and  privileges  of  aliens,  those  rights  and  privi- 
leges find  their  protection  under  the  supreme  law  of  the 
United  States,  within  the  jurisdiction  of  the  several  States. 
If  the  President  believes  that  we  will  postpone  the  survey 
of  the  country  to  gratify  the  Agent  and  the  hostile 
Indians,  he  deceives  himself.  To  these  poor  deluded 
men,  who  have  been  hostile  in  peace  and  hostile  in  war, 
and  the  opponents  of  the  treaty,  Georgia  could  make  no 
appeal.  From  Mclntosh  and  his  friends,  who  made  the 
treaty,  we  sought  permission  to  make  the  survey,  and 
obtained  it.  Scrupulously  regardful  of  the  stipulation  of 
the  treaty,  we  asked  them,  in  substance,  if  the  survey 
would,  in  any  manner,  interfere  with  their  convenience  or 

*    The  first  Article  of  the  treaty  begins,  "The  Creek  nation  cede  to  the  United  States  all 
the  lands,"  &c. — ED. 


318  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

security,  and  they  answered,  no — a  ready  answer,  because 
the  survey  would  in  fact  contribute  importantly  to  both. 

The  frequent  recurrence  to  the  conduct  of  the  Agent,  may 
induce  a  belief  that  the  influencing  motives  here  are  im- 
pure or  tainted  with  prejudice — it  is  not  so.  As  an  individ- 
ual, no  angry  feelings  have  been  indulged  toward  him,  or 
any  harm  desired — as  a  public  officer,  the  most  indignant 
sentiments  have  been  awakened  from  the  beginn  ing,  because, 
as  soon  as  I  entered  upon  the  duties  of  this  otiicc,  it  was 
known  to  me  that  he  had  come  to  the  resolution  to  prevent 
the  Indians  from  ceding  any  lands  to  Georgia,  so  louu  as 
I  continued  in  it;  a  resolution  so  ungenerous  and  unworthy 
of  any  officer,  in  any  station,  that  I  determined  to  employ 
all  honorable  means  to  effect  his  removal  as  absolutely 
necessary  to  the  prosperity  of  the  State.  You  ought  to 
have  removed  him  long  ago,  and  thus  have  spared  us  all  the 
evils  which  have  followed  your  omission. 

Be  pleased  to  present  my  respectful  compliments  to  the 
President,  and  assure  him  of  my  good  wishes  and  ivgards. 
The  frankness  with  which  it  is  my  duty  to  communicate 
with  him,  can  have  no  tendency  to  weaken  them  on  my 
part,  or  to  excite  distrust  of  their  sincerity  on  his.  Even 
upon  the  subject*  of  intensest  interest  to  us,  upon  which 
the  opinions  of  the  President  are  known,  many  allowances 
are  made  for  the  immeasurable  distance  which  separates  us. 
In  treating  it,  I  have  used  strong  language,  but  he  will  not 
on  this  account  believe  that  I  make  light  of  the  Union.  I 
would  offer  up  my  life,  with  pleasure,  to  sustain  it  for  a  single 
day.  The  fearful  consequences,  constantly  in  sight,  keep  us 
in  a  state  of  agitation  and  alarm.  I  strive  to  stave  them 
off;  and  it  is  for  this  that  language  is  employed,  sickening 
to  the  heart  and  most  offensive  to  a  vast  portion  of  the  com- 
mon family.  Who  can  help  it,  when  they  see  wise  men 
engaged  in  a  playfulness  and  pastime  like  this,  indulging 
their  whims  and  oddities  and  phantasies,  and  causing  this 
Union  to  tremble  upon  a  bauble  '( 

With  regard  to  the  expenses  attendant  on  our  measures 
of  defence,  of  which  you  are  instructed  to  say  nothing  un- 
til those  measures  are  submitted  to  you  in  detail,  I  have  to 
congratulate  you  and  myself  that  they  will  be  so  inconsid- 
erable in  amount  as  not  to  cause  much  trouble  or  anxiety  to 
either  of  us.  Whilst  I  took  the  precautionary  measures  to 
make  safe  the  women  and  children  upon  the  frontiers,  I 

*  Gov.  Troup  refers  here,  of  course,  to  the  sul'.i  .  ;  and,  in  the  next  sentence, 

to  the  "stand  by  your  arms"  part  of  bis  then  recent  message. — ED. 


CHAP.  X.]  DOCUMENTS,  40.  319 

remember  very  well  that  we  had  been  pleading  at  your 
treasury,  for  thirty  years,  for  similar  expenses  incurred  in 
defending  ourselves  against  the  same  Indians.  I  feel  much 
more  anxiety  about  the  expenses  which  may  be  incurred 
by  the  friendly  ones,  who  have  sought  refuge  within  our 
settlements,  which  they  are  quite  willing  to  defray  from 
their  own  scanty  means,  but  which  justice  and  humanity 
require  you  to  defray  for  them. 

With  great  consideration  and  regard, 

G.'M.  TROUP. 
The  Hon.  James  Barbour, 
Secretary  of  War, 
Washington  City. 

Accompanying  the  Secretary's  letter  to  the  Governor, 
were  the  following  documents  :  A  letter  from  Chilly  Mc- 
Intosh  to  the  Secretary,  announcing  the  murder  of  General 
Mclntosh  and  Tustunnuggee,  and  the  destruction  of  his 
property,  and  asking  protection  for  the  friendly  Indians, 
revenge  for  the  murders,  and  indemnity  for  property 
destroyed,  &c. :  the  answer  of  the  Secretary,  expressing 
sympathy,  promising  protection,  and  that  the  matter  of  re- 
muneration would  be  recommended  to  the  favorable  con- 
sideration of  Congress,  &c. :  two  letters  from  Chilly  Mc- 
lntosh and  three  other  chiefs  of  the  friendly  party,  to  the 
Secretary — one  asking  for  revenge  for  the  blood  that-had 
been  spilt,  an  investigation  into  the  Indian  disputes,  and 
protection  for  the  friendly  Indians — the  second,  complain- 
ing of  the  conduct  of  Col.  Crowell,  the  Agent,  stating  that 
the  Agent  "  is  not  trusted  by  us,  and  we  do  not  feel  safe  in 
his  hands."  They  said,  further :  "  Col.  Crowell  has  always 
been  opposed  to  General  Mclntosh  since  1823,  when  he 
tried  to  have  him  broke  as  a  Chief  of  the  Creek  nation,  and 
threatened  to  destroy  his  property.  He  was  offended  at 
Gen.  Mclntosh  for  refusing  to  give  up  a  man  named  Stinson, 
without  an  order  from  the  head  Chiefs  of  the  nation.  Stin- 
son wras  afterwards  delivered  into  the  Agent's  custody,  and 
tried  for  selling  goods  in  the  nation  without  a  license,  of 
which  he  was  acquitted  by  the  Federal  Court,  in  Georgia," 
&c.,  &c.  It  further  said  :  "  Col.  Crowell  was  opposed  to 


320  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

the  treaty  at  the  Indian  Springs,  and  tried  to  prevent  the 
Creeks  from  selling  their  lands  to  the  United  States.     He 
sent  William  Hambly,  United  States  Interpreter,   to  the 
Council,  to  say  that  he  wanted  to  see  the  Chiefs,  but  was 
jealous  of  the  Commissioners.     He  told  them   that  they 
should  not  give  any  long  answer  to  the  Commissioners,  but 
only  say  '  they  had  no  lands  to  sell.'     That  the  Commission- 
ers would  threaten,  but  their  threats  would  cud  in  words, 
as  soon  as  they  heard  from  the  government.     Even  after  the 
treaty  was  freely  agreed  to,  he  did  not  cease  his  opposition. 
He  sent  a  message  by  "William  Humbly,  the  Interpreter,  to 
tell  some  of  the  Indians  that  they  should  go  away  across  the 
line,  that  night,  or  they  would  be  taken  and  shut  up  until 
they  signed  the  treaty.     This  party  went  oif  in  the  night,  as 
they  were  told.     The  next  morning  three  men  were  sent 
after  them  to  know  why  they  had  gone  away ;  they  told  those 
men  the  message  they  had  received  from  Col.  Crow.  11, 
which  was  the  reason  of  their  going.     One  of  these  messen- 
gers, Ben  Daulawza,  is  now  in  Washington."     After  other 
complaints,  the  letter  ended :    "  Now,  sir,  we  beg  our  lather, 
the  President,  to  send  an  Agent  who  will  be  a  friend  to  all 
the  nation  equally ;  and  one  in  whose  hands  we  can  feel 
safe  to  go    west   of   the  Mississippi.     If  Col.  Crowell  is 
continued  Agent,  we  fear  that  the  friends  of  Gen.  Mflntnsh 
will  be  sacrificed  :" — also  a  letter  from  the  same  chiefs,  to 
the  Secretary,  inquiring  if  Col.  Crowell  had  received  the 
annuity  money,  for  1825,  agreed  to  be  paid  by  the  treaty  of 
1821  at  the  Mineral  Springs,  and  stating:  "Col.   Crowell, 
at  Broken  Arrow,  informed  the  Council  that  he  had  made 
an  arrangement  with  the  government  of  the  United  States, 
that  every  individual  of  the  nation  should  receive  an  equal 
share  of  the  money  which  was  to  be  paid  under  the  late 
treaty.     If  he  did  make  this  arrangement,  the  party  of  us 
going  to  the  western  country,  will  not  get   enough  to  pay 
our  expenses.     If  Col.  Crowell  did  make  this  arrangement 
with  you,  not  one  would  go  to  the  western  country ;  because 
they    have  no  money   to  bear   their  expenses,  and  none 
to  pay  for  their  improvements.     We  beg  also  to  know  if 


CHAP.  X.]  SPECIAL  MESSAGE.  321 

the  United  States  will  not  pay  our  expenses  here,  on  the 
business  which  has  brought  us  to  "Washington.  It  is  busi- 
ness in  which  the  United  States  are  concerned  equally  with 
the  Creek  nation."  They  begged  to  be  informed,  that  day, 
what  would  be  done,  as  they  were  to  leave  Washington 
next  day. 

To  this,  the  Secretary  replied,  the  same  day,  expressing 
the  President's  regret  at  the  rupture,  and  the  death  of  Mc- 
Intosh  and  others — that  measures  had  been  taken,  which,  it 
was  hoped,  would  quiet  disturbances  and  give  security  from 
future  violence — that  an  examination  would  be  had  into  the 
charges  against  the  Agent,  as  well  as  the  subject  of  the 
recent  calamity,  &c. — that  such  measures  would  be  taken  as 
should  seem  best  calculated  to  reconcile  the  existing  diffi- 
culties, to  punish  those  who  might  appear  to  have  promoted 
them,  as  might  be  in  the  province  of  the  government  to 
punish,  &c. — that  the  expenses  of  their  visit  to  Washington,, 
would  be  paid,  on  an  approved  estimate  of  them  being 
presented,  and  that  the  request  to  have  an  Agent  to 
accompany  them  in  search  of  a  country  for  their  future 
residence,  was  granted. 

This  correspondence  was  all  dated  the  17th  of  May,  1825, 
and,  with  the  Governor's  correspondence  with  the  Secretary 
of  War  and  Major  Andrews,  the  foregoing  abstracts  will 
serve  to  explain  the  following  message  of  the  Governor  to 
the  Legislature,  dated  3d  June,  1825. 

The  papers  now  communicated  would  have  been  laid 
before  you  as  soon  as  received,  but,  the  measures  to  be 
taken  in  carrying  into  effect  the  wishes  of  the  President, 
depending  on  the  arrival  of  Major-General  Gaines,  then 
daily  expected,  it  was  deemed  best  to  withhold  them  until 
that  arrival,  when  both  the  views  of  the  General  Govern- 
ment, and  the  measures  consequent  upon  them  could  be 
fully  disclosed.  It  being  understood,  however,  that  much 
public  anxiety  is  manifested  for  their  publication,  they  are 
transmitted  to  you.  You  will  perceive  by  those  views, 
that  if  the  General  Government,  assuming  the  exclusive 
right  to  expound  and  carry  into  effect  the  treaty  of  the  In- 
dian Springs,  shall  persist  in  giving  to  it  the  construction 
which  is  to  be  found  in  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  War, 
41 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUr.  [CHAP.  X. 

and  elsewhere,  it.  would  have  been  better  for  all  par- 
ties that  the  treaty  had  never  been  concluded;  for  it 
is  quite  obvious  to  you,  that,  admitting  the  power  and 
the  construction,  the  execution  of  it  may  be  indefinitely 
postponed  at  the  will  of  the  United  States.  Accord- 
ing t«>  that  will,  we  are  not  to  survey  the  country, 
because  the  hostile  Indians  who  opposed  the  treaty  have 
also  opposed  the  snrve.  continue  to  oppose  both 

treaty  and  survey,    and  to  conduct  themselves  in  the  most 
hostile  and  offensive  manner.     The  hostile  Indians  would 
prohibit  us  from  pa.->ing  to  and  fro  through  the  country, 
the  prohibition  v.  a  equally  .iblo:  the  act 

of  survey,  so  tar  as  regards  the  security  and  peace  of  the 
Indians  under  the  trea  .  ;',ie  art  oi'pa- 

to  and  fro.     "\VhiUt,  therefore,  by  the   tn  bave  iho 

absolute  title  to  the  soil,  and  the  absolute  jurisdiction,  with 
the  reservation  merely  of  temporary  occupation  by  the 
Indians,  and  <  if  power  in  the  United  States  to  protect  them 
in  their  persons  and  effects,  the  right  of  survey,  even  when 
the  consent  of  those  who  ceded  the  country,  is  denied  to 
us;  and  this  denial  founded  on  an  assertion  utterly  <; 
tute  of  truth,  viz  : — that  the  troubles  in  the  nation  have 
been  caused  by  the  act  of  this  Government,  which  procured 
the  consent  of  the  Indians  to  survey  the  country.  In  the 
absence  of  all  of  !mony.  to  show  that  these  troubles 

had  their  origin  in  other,  and  very  different,  canses,  it  is  suf- 
ficient to  inquire  .hie  connection  exists  between 
the  survey  of  the  country  and  the  hostility  of  the  Indians  ? 
The  survey  could  neither  expedite  nor  retard  the  removal 
of  the  Indians;  the  Indians  were  not  certain  that  even 
with  their  consent  the  survey  would  be  attempted.  Surely, 
therefore,  if  this  had  been  the  cause  of  excitement,  the 
Indians  would  have  waited  the  event.  It  is  conceivable 
that  the  cession  of  the  lands  might  have  produced  hostili- 
ties— but  tailing  to  do  so,  it  is  inconceivable  how  the  consent 
to  survey  them,  which  had  no  relation  to  their  eventual 
surrender  and  abandonment,  could  produce  that  effect. 
The  object  of  the  • .  ^overnnient  of  Georgia,  in  procuring 
the  consent,  was  not  to  settle  the  country  one  day 
sooner  than  the  provisions  of  the  .oiild  authorize; 
but,  in  sun.  te  country,  to  .save  the  time  consumed 
in  that  operation.  ./s  over  it  and  to  settle  it 
immediately  on  the  departure  of  the  Indians — and  this  was 
of  the  more  importance,  because  the  Government  was  to 
expect  in  a  short  time  the  arrival  of  their  Civil  Engineer; 
and  as  that  was  to  be  the  Held  of  bis  first  and  most  inter- 


CHAP.  X.]  MESSAGE  CONTINUED.  323 

esting  operations,  it  was  necessary  to  place  him  there 
under  the  guardianship  and  safety  of  our  own  laws.  But 
so  it  happens,  that  this  act  of  survey  in  which  no  body 
before  -ever  saw  harm  or  cause  of  offence,  is  suddenly 
magnified  into  an  evil  prolific  of  all  other  evils,  and  this 
merely  because  the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  so 
informed  by  its  Agent — that  Agent  who  stands  conspicu- 
ously charged  as  the  prime  mover  and  instigator  of  them 
all — who  opposed  the  treaty  from  the  beginning — protested 
against  it  to  the  last,  foretold  the  mischiefs  which  were  to 
come  of  it,  and  is  yet  the  confidential,  trusty  and  impartial 
witness  upon  whose  dictum  the  United  States  Government 
accuses  the  Executive  Government  of  Georgia.  The  Execu- 
tive of  Georgia  will  not  retort  the  accusation — it  will  not 
say  that  the  Government  of  the  United  States  is  responsible 
in  the  sight  of  Heaven  and  of  the  world,  for  the  crimes 
(if  any)  committed  by  the  Agent — because  the  Government 
of  Georgia  is  not  in  the  practice  of  thus  treating  the  Gov- 
ernment of  the  United  States — but  it  must  be  permitted  to 
say  distinctly,  that,  upon  the  naked  information  and  advice 
of  the  Agent,  the  Government  of  the  United  States  has 
suffered  itself  so  far  to  enter  into  the  views,  and  to  adopt 
the  feelings,  of  the  Agent,  in  relation  to  the  late  events 
connected  with  the  treaty,  as  to  have  given,  already,  ex- 
positions to  two  of  its  important  articles  most  palpably 
erroneous  and  unwarranted  by  the  letter  or  spirit  of 
either.  The  one  is  of  that  article  which  cedes  absolutely 
the  territory,  and  therefore,  of  course,  cedes  the  jurisdiction 
— the  other  of  that  which  stipulates  the  payment  of  the 
money  to  the  Indians.  Of  the  first,  enough  has  been  said 
for  a  message ;  of  the  second,  it  is  sufficient  to  say  that  the 
United  States  Government  has  given  such  a  construction 
to  this  article,  that  the  hostile  Indians,  those  which  remain, 
as  well  as  those  which  remove,  will  share  equally  with  the 
friendly  Indians,  the  money  stipulated  to  be  paid  by  it. 
The  money  is  not  given  in  consideration  of  the  lands — the 
consideration  of  them  is  other  lands,  acre  for  acre  in  fee 
simple — the  money  is  given  expressly  for  improvements 
abandoned,  losses  suffered  by  removal,  and  to  defray  the 
expenses  of  removal.  That  portion  of  the  tribe  which 
will  not  remove,  is  to  share  it  with  that  which  does  remove. 
This,  to  be  sure,  is  no  concern  of  ours — but  you  will  see  by 
the  letter  of  Gen.  Chilly  Mclntosh,  that  if  this  construc- 
tion is  persisted  in,  the  consequences  may  be  of  the  most 
deplorable  character — a  gross  breach  of  treaty  on  the 
one  side,  a  consequent  refusal  to  comply  on  the  other — 


324  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Cn.vr.  X. 

power  enough  on  the  one  to  enforce  compliance — on  the 
other,  weakness,  innocence,  wretchedness  and  woes  innu- 
merable. 

Permit  me  to  add,  that  there  is  something  strange  and 
inexplicable  in  this  conduct  of  the  General  Government  to 
the  Chief  Magistrate  of  Georgia.  On  the  13 1st  day  of  March 
la-t,  my  application  to  the  Indians  for  permission  to  survey 
the  country,  and  my  intention,  if  that  application  snccc< 
to  convene  the  Legislature,  were  made  known  to  the  Presi- 
dent. Although  one  communication  at  least  was  subse- 
quently received  from  the  War  Department,  not  one  word 
-said  in  objection  to  th  .  If  any  had  been  made, 

1  would  have  discussed  it  calmly  and  temperately  :  and  if, 
in  the  result,  I  had  found  myself  in  the  wrong,  it  would 
have  been  a  question  whether,  for  other  objects,  an  extra 
on  should  be  called.  Xow  that  you  are  assembled,  and 
in  progress  upon  public  :  deepest  interest,  it  is  at- 

tempted most  unexpectedly  to  cross  and  embarrass  you  ; 
but  the  Legislature  is  not  to  be  frightened  from  its  duty  1 
angry  look.  I  invite  you  to  proceed,  therefore,  in  the  coin-so 
which  you  have  taken,  and,  keeping  strictly  on  the  side  of 
right,  and  within  the  pale  of  the  Constitution  and  the  1. 
you  will,  under  the  most  adverse  circumstances,  find  the 
most  cheering  consolations.  You  cannot  thus  proceed  with- 
out the  countenance  and  support  of  your  constituents,  and 
I  doubt  not  they  will  be  readily  yielded.  If  it  be  possible, 
which  I  do  not  permit  myself  to  believe,  that  a  certain 
person,  filling  a  certain  station,  stands  in  the  way  of  the 
peace  and  harmony  which  ought  ever  to  subsist  between 
this  and  the  General  Government,  and  on  this  account  val- 
uable interests  are  endangered,  that  person  will  retire 
instantly,  and  with  much  more  pleasure  than  he  ever  occu- 
pied that  station. 

(T.  M.  Tuoi    . 

Before  adjournment,  the  General  Assembly  adopted  a  re- 
port and  resolution,  to  the  effect  that  the  running  of  the  line 
between  Georgia  and  Florida  was  not  of  sufficient  impor- 
tance to  require  legislative  interference  before  the  regular 
session  ;  that,  in  regard  to  the  boundary  line  between  Geor- 
gia and  Alabama,  it  was  a  subject  of  much  greater  impor- 
tance, and  required  their  immediate  attention — that  if  an 
act  *  should  be  passed,  as  contemplated,  for  surveying  and 

*    This  Act  waa  passed,  and  has  been  noticed. — ED. 


CHAP.  X.]  FRONTIER  DISTURBANCES.  335 

disposing  of  the  Creek  country,  it  would  become  essentially 
necessary  to  have  the  line  ascertained  ;  and  that,  as  it 
appeared  from  the  documents,  the  government  of  the 
UnitedjStates  and  Alabama  had  been  consulted  and  declined 
any  agency  on  the  subject,  they  required  the  Governor,  as 
soon  as  practicable,  to  procure  the  services  of  some  compe- 
tent person  or  persons  to  ascertain  the  boundary  line  be- 
tween Georgia  and  Alabama,  according  to  the  compact  of 
1802,  with  the  United  States,  notice  being  first  given  to  the 
Governor  of  Alabama,  that  he  might,  if  he  should  deem 
it  necessary,  appoint  Commissioners  to  co-operate  with  those 
to  be  appointed  by  Georgia. 

They  passed,  besides  those  already  noticed  and  others 
not  important  for  insertion,  a  resolution,  authorizing  and 
requesting  the  Governor  "to  take,  forthwith,  efficient 
measures  to  protect  the  Georgia  frontier  against  the 
depredations  or  encroachments  of  the  Creek  Indians,  by 
calling  out  a  sufficient  military  force  for  that  purpose,  if 
found  necessary." 

This  resolution  was  passed  in  consequence  of  a  message 
from  the  Governor,  dated  6th  June,  1825,  in  which  he 
said: 

"  I  communicate,  for  the  further  information  of  the  Leg- 
islature, two  letters  this  moment  received  from  our  frontiers, 
which  indicate  the  urgency  of  interposing  a  sufficient  force 
for  the  protection  of  our  inhabitants." 

The  letters  conveyed  information  of  hostile  intentions 
which  appeared  to  have  been  manifested  by  the  Indians 
opposite  the  counties  of  Dooly  and  Early,  creating  alarm 
amongst  the  whites.  The  Governor  promptly  issued  the 
necessary  military  orders  for  protecting  the  frontiers,  and, 
on  the  9th,  sent  in  the  following  additional  message  to  the 
Legislature : 

Before  your  adjournment,  it  is  due  to  you  to  place  you 
in  possession  of.  all  the  information  received  at  this  depart- 
ment, and,  so  soon  as  received,  of  the  actual  state  of  things 
upon  our  frontiers,  and  from  which,  as  by  the  information 
hitherto  disclosed,  the  most  unpleasant  tidings  may  be  daily 
expected.  "Without  adverting  to  the  causes  or  origin  of 


326  LIFE  OP  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  X. 

them  at  all,  I  must  say  to  you  that  it  is  my  deliberate  opin- 
ion that  the  United  States  government  will  be  directly 
answerable  to  Georgia  for  every  drop  of  blood  shed  upon 
this  occasion  ;  and  I  further  say  to  you,  what  has  been  more 
than  once  said,  that  no  State  having  pretensions  to  even 
limited  sovereignty,  ought  to  be  dependent  on  another  for 
the  protection  which  is  due  from  a  government  to  its  citizens, 
much  less  for  that  which,  from  the  information  communi- 
cated, seems  to  be  urgently  demanded  for  our  frontier 
inhabitants.  It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  there  are 
no  measures  which  you  may  constitutionally  authorize, 
which  I  will  not  execute  with  promptness  and  energy- 

The  Legislature  adjourned  on  the  llth  June,  1825. 

General  Gaines  arrived  at  MilledgeviHe  on  Sunday,  the 
12th  of  June,  and  on  the  morning  of  the  13th  had  an  in- 
terview with  the  Governor.  On  the  same  day  he  wrote  to 
the  Governor  : 

HF.A  ,  E     n:i:.v  DEPART 

-I  'in' 


Sir  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  the 
correspondence  referred  to  by  your  Excellency,  in  your 
verbal  communication  of  this  morning,  representing  the 
indications  of  hostility  recently  manifested  by  the  Indians 
on  the  Western  frontier  of  this  State,  numbered  1  to  4 
inclusively  ;  together  with  your  instructions  to  Capt.  Har- 
rison, of  the  10th  of  the  present  month.  Of  this  paper, 
which  I  return  herewith,  I  have  to  request  the  favor 
of  a  copy,  with  such  information  as  that  officer  shall  com- 
municate, touching  the  execution  of  the  important  duty 
assigned  to  him. 

With  the  greatest  respect, 
I  have  the  honor  to  be 

Your  Excellency's  ob't  serv't, 

EDMUND  P.  GAINES, 

Maj-Gen.  Com'g. 
His  Excellency  Gov.  Troup. 

The  Governor  replied,  the  same  day,  enclosing  a  copy  of 
his  instructions,  of  10th  June,  to  Capt.  Annies  Harrison, 
commanding  Twig^s  County  Cavalry,  the  substance  of 
which  was  :  that  in  carrying  into  effect  the  orders  of  (Jon. 
Wimberly,  he  would  be  "  careful  to  act  strictly  on  the  dc- 


CHAP.  X.]  GEN.  GAINES  AT  MILLED GEVILLE. 

fensive,  until  circumstances  shall  arise  to  justify  an  opposite 
conduct ;  "  that  if  he  should,  on  arrival  at  the  frontiers, 
find  that  the  Indians  had  committed  no  outrages,  &c.,  he 
would  endeavor  to  pacify  them,  by  assuring  them  that  his 
presence  there  was  not  to  make  war  upon  them^  but  to 
"  protect  our  people  and  others  within  our  limits,  in  their 
persons  and  effects, against  any  assault  or  inroads  upon  either, 
and  to  chastise  those  who  shall  be  niad  enough  to  attempt 
them  ; "  if,  however,  he  should  find  they  had  committed 
hostile  acts  of  unequivocal  character,  he  should  treat  them 
as  enemies,  "  pursuing  them,  if  necessary,  into  the  country 
occupied  by  them,  and  punishing  them  there,"  &c. — that 
if  the  Indians  should  merely  have  committed  depredations 
on  property,  he  should,  whilst  taking  measures  to  recover 
the  property,  remember  that  the  jurisdiction  of  the  State 
had  been  established  and  its  criminal  laws  extended  over 
the  country,  so  that  the  offenders  could  be  seized  and  tried 
in  the  ordinary  way ;  that  the  deluded  Indians  were  ob- 
jects rather  of  pity  than  resentment;  and  that,  finding 
them  in  the  wrong,  the  officer  would  endeavor  to  keep  them 
so  ;  that  the  officer  should  take  the  earliest  occasion  to 
inform  himself  correctly  of  the  actual  state  of  things,  and 
that  if  it  should  appear  expedient  to  do  so,  three  com- 
panies or  more  of  infantry  or  riflemen  would  be  marched 
to  his  support ;  that  the  money  advanced  should  be  ex- 
pended to  the  best  advantage,  proper  vouchers  taken  so  as 
to  enable  the  State  to  charge  the  General  Government 
with  the  amount,  &c,,  &c. 

The  day  after  enclosing,  to  General  Gaines,  these  in- 
structions to  Capt.  Harrison,  Gov.  Troup  wrote  to  the 
former,  as  follows : 

It  may  be  important  to  you  to  know,  before  you  com- 
municate with  your  Government  and  proceed  to  meet  the 
Indians  in  convention,  that  the  laws  of  Georgia  are  already 
extended  over  the  ceded  country,  and  of  course  that  it  is 
my  bounden  duty  to  execute  them  there.  The  statutory 
provision  on  this  subject  will  be  found  in  the  papers  of  the 
morning,  and  in  the  act  entitled  "An  Act  to  dispose  of  and 
distribute  the  lands  lately  acquired,"  &c. 


328  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

The  day  previously,  lie  had  written  to  Gen.  Gaines,  and 
said : 

In  the  course  of  the  desultory  and  informal  communica- 
tion with  you  of  to-day,  my  desire  was  intimated  that  the 
line  between  this  State  and  Alabama  should  be  run  as 
early  as  possible,  and  I  requested  the  favor  of  you  to  make 
known  to  your  Government  this  desire,  and  without 
delay.  A  letter  will  be  immediately  dispatched  to  the 
Governor  of  Alabama,  to  apprise  him  of  the  resolution  of 
the  Government  of  Georgia  to  run  that  line,  and  to  ask  his 
concert  and  co-operation.  If  that  concert  and  co-opera- 
tion be  refused,  we  will  proceed  to  run  the  line  without 
them,  as  we  will  also  proceed  in  due  time  to  make  the  survey 
of  the  lands  within  our  limits,  disregarding  any  obstacles 
which  may  be  opposed  from  any  quarter.  You  will  sec, 
therefore,  how  highly  important  it.is  that  upon  these  points 
the  two  Governments  should  understand  each  other  imme- 
diately. 

In  his  letter  to  the  Governor  of  Alabama,  written  14th 
June,  Gov.  Troup  said  : 

The  enclosed  resolution  of  the  late  Legislature  will  in- 
form you  that  the  Executive  of  Georgia  is  charged  with 
the  running  of  the  line  dividing  this  State  and  Alabama. 
As  it  is  more  than  probable  that  I  will  take  measures  to 
carry  their  wishes  into  effect,  very  soon  after  the  U.  S. 
Government  shall  have  had  opportunity  to  quiet  the  dis- 
turbances which  prevail  in  the  Indian  country  ;  and  as  it 
is  very  desirable  that  the  Government  of  Alabama  shall 
harmoniously  co-operate  with  that  of  Georgia  in  the  ex- 
ecution of  the  work,  I  will  thank  you  to  inform  me  whether 
you  feel  yourself  authorized  to  appoint  Commissioners  <>n 
your  part  to  meet  the  Commissioners  of  Georgia,  so  that 
the  operation  may  be  a  conjoint  one,  and  satisfactory  in 
its  results  to  both  parties. 

To  this  letter,  Governor  Pickens,  of  Alabama,  replied,  on 
3d  of  July,  that  he  was  "  altogether  unauthorized  to  appoint 
Commissioners  or  otherwise  to  co-operate  in  the  desired 
work" — that  the  omission  of  the  Legislature  to  act  in  the 
premises  was  not  owing  to  any  indifference  to  participating 
in  the  operation,  or  "indisposition  to  co-operate  liber- 
ally and  harmoniously  in  the  execution  of  the  work, 


CHAP.  X.]  GEORGIA  AND  ALABAMA  LINE. 

whenever  any  practical  benefit  to  either  State  might  be 
promised."  He  further  stated  that  until  very  recently  the 
country  on  both  sides  the  proposed  line,  was,  for  its  whole 
extent,  within  the  territory  allotted  to  the  Creeks  and 
Cherokees,  and  for  many  months  yet  must  continue  in  their 
occupancy,  and  that  up  to  the  period  of  the  adjournment 
of  the  Legislature,  no  disposition  for  a  cession  of  land  had 
been  evinced  by  either  tribe  ;  that,  a  treaty  of  cession  hav- 
ing now  been  made,  he  felt  assured  the  Legislature  of 
Alabama  would,  at  its  next  session  in  November,  act  with 
promptness  in  the  premises,  and  presumed  that  action  then 
would  "  be  in  very  convenient  season  to  meet  the  views  of 
the  Government  of  Georgia,"  &c.,  &c. 

Governor  Troup  replied,  on  10th  August,  and  said  : 

"  In  compliance  with  the  wishes  expressed  by  your 
Excellency,  I  will  cheerfully  postpone  the  operation  until 
November,  confidently  relying  on  the  assurance  that  the 
Legislature  of  Alabama  will,  on  its  first  meeting,  take 
prompt  measures  to  co-operate  with  Georgia  in  the  execution 
of  the  work." 

To  the  Governor's  letter  of  the  13tU  June,  Gen.  Gaines 
replied,  from  his  "  Head  Quarters"  at  Milledgeville,  June 
14th,  1825,  and,  amongst  other  things,  said  : 

Your  letter,  which  I  shall  without  delay  refer  to  the  De- 

Eartinent  of  War,  announces  your  intention  to  cause  the 
no  to  be  run  between  this  State  and  Alabama,  and  to 
survey  the  public  land  of  the  State  within  the  late  ceded 
territory.  Upon  the  last  mentioned  subject,  I  am  distinctly 
authorized  to  state  to  the  Indians,  that  the  President  of  the 
United  States  has  suggested  to  Governor  Troup  the  neces- 
sity of  his  abstaining  from  entering  into  and  surveying 
the  ceded  land,  until  the  time  prescribed  by  the  treaty  for 
their  removal. 

There  is,  perhaps,  no  principle  of  national  law  better 
established,  or  more  universally  admitted,  than  that  the 
contracting  parties  to  a  treaty  possess  the  right,  and,  in  a 
case  like  the  one  in  question,  the  exclusive  right  of  ex- 
pounding and  carrying  into  effect  such  treaty. 

The  decision  of  the  President  in  this  case  must  govern 
me  in  my  intended  conference  with  the  Indians :  and  this 
42 


330  LIFF-  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  X. 

conference  must  necessarily  take  place  before  the  subject 
can  be  submitted  to  the  President;  nor  is  it  probable  that, 
if  it  were  submitted,  it  would  undergo  any  change. 

I  cannot,  therefore,  but  express  a  confident  hope  that 

your  Excellency  may  see  the  propriety  of  abstaining  from 

••roposed  survey,  both  of  the  boundary  line  and  of  the 

land  within  the  late  ceded  territory,  until  the  period  arrives 

at  which  the  removal  of  the  Indians  is  required. 

Immediately  on  receipt  of  this  letter,  (Jovernor  Troup 
addressed  a  communication  to  General  Gaines,  dated  'i-Mh 
June,  in  which  lie  said  : 

I  have  this  moment  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  com- 
munication of  the  14th  inst,  on  the  subject  of  the  survey 
of  the  ceded  country  and  the  running  of  the  dividing  line, 
between  Alabama  and  Georgia,  and  in  which  yon  request 
that,  in  conformity  with  the  expressed  will  of  your  govern-* 
ment,  both  the  survey  and  the  running  of  the  line  may  lie 
forborne  "  until  the  period  arrives  at,  which  the  removal  of 
the  Indians  is  required." 

It  would  give  me  great  pleasure  to  be  able  to  comply 
with  any  request  made  by  yourself  or  your  government. 
You  would  make  none  that  did  not,  to  your  apprehensions, 
seem  reasonable  and  proper.  As,  however,  there  exist 
two  independent  parties  to  the  question,  each  is  permit! 
decide  for  itself,  and,  with  all  due  deference  to  yours,  I  must 
be  permitted  to  say,  that  my  apprehension  of  the  right  and 
of  the  wrong  leads  me  to  the  opposite  conclusion — die  con- 
clusion to  which  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  upon  mature 
reflection,  recently  arrived  by  an  almost  unanimous  voice, 
and  which  was  made  the  foundation  of  my  late  communi- 
cation to  the  Secretary  of  War,  and  my  more  recent  one  to 
you  upon  the  same  subject.  I  would  deeply  lament  if  any 
act  proceeding  from  myself,  should  cause  the  least  embar- 
rassment to  yourself  or  your  government,  especially  con- 
sidering the  critical  relations  in  which  the  United  States 
stand  to  the  Indians,  and  the  great  interest  which  the  gov- 
ernment of  Georgia  feels  in  their  early  and  satisfactory 
adjustment ;  but  it  cannot  be  expected  by  yuiir  government, 
that  important  interests  are  to  be  surrendered,  and  rights 
deemed  unquestionable,  abandoned  by  Georgia,  because  of 
any  embarrassment  which  may  arise  in  the  intercourse  and 
negotiations  between  the  United  States  and  Indians.  1  set 
too  just  a  value  on  your  high  character,  to  believe  that  you 


CHAP.  X.]  LETTER  TO  GEN.   GAINES. 

would  willingly  create  them.  I  am  equally  persuaded  that 
none  will  be  suffered  to  exist  which  can  with  propriety  be 
removed  ;  and  I  know  you  will  pardon  me  when  I  take  the 
liberty  of  saying,  that  those  to  which  you  refer  ought  not 
to  exist  for  a  single  moment.  Upon  every  principle  and 
practice  of  diplomacy,  the  particular  instruction  of  your 
government,  which  has  given  rise  to  these  embarrassment?, 
ought  at  this  moment  to  be  taken  and  held  as  no  instruction 
at  all ;  for  it  is  now  known  to  you,  that  what  purports  to  be 
an  instruction,  was  given  upon  information  which  was  be- 
lieved to  be  true,  but  which  has  turned  out  to  be  false  ;  and 
the  presumption  is  irresistible,  that,  the  state  of  things 
being  changed,  your  government  so  far  from  desiring  to 
press  the  execution,  would  gladly  withdraw  the  instruction, 
and  that,  without  any,  the  least  responsibility,  you  are  at 
perfect  liberty  to  consider  it  withdrawn.  It  is  not  for  me 
to  instruct,  but  to  derive  instruction  from  you  in  everything 
'  connected  with  the  military  art ;  and  you  know  as  well  as  I, 
that  no  principle  is  better  settled  than  the  one  which  justi- 
fies disobedience  to  positive  orders,  under  a  change  of  cir- 
cumstances. I  say  that  the  instruction  had  its  origin  singly 
in  a  falsehood  imposed  upon  your  government  by  its  own 
Agent ;  and  that,  but  for  that  falsehood,  the  instruction 
would  not  have  been  given.  You  have  the  proof  in  com- 
mon sense,  and  in  the  documents  and  evidence  connected 
with  the  late  disturbances — if  you  want  more  proof,  look 
into  the  gazettes  of  yesterday,  where  you  find  a  Coun- 
cil of  hostile  Indians  assembled  by  the  Agent,  proclaiming 
by  acclamation  his  innocence  of  the  death  of  Mclntosh, 
because  that  death  followed  not  from  the  survey  but  the  law 
of  the  nation. 

Your  Government  is  informed  by  the  Agent,  that  the 
hostile  Indians  are  in  array  against  us,  because  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Georgia  interfered  to  procure  the  consent  to 
the  survey.  The  same  Indians  testify  to  the  falsehood  of 
the  declaration ;  and  the  dilemma  is,  that  if  the  Agent  is  to 
be  believed  in  the  one  case,  the  Indians  cannot  in  the 
other.  You  see,  therefore,  Sir,  plainly,  the  result — the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  identifying  itself  in 
all  things  with  the  Agent,  assumes  for  granted  what  is 
false ;  issues,  in  consequence  thereof,  a  peremptory  order 
to  this  Government  to  forbear  an  act  which  it  feels  it  is 
its  right  and  its  duty  and  interest  to  perform.  The  falsity  is 
made  known  to  the  officer  instructed  to  carry  that  order 
into  effect — the  officer  feels  it  to  be  his  duty  to  proceed  in 
the  execution  of  the  order,  notwithstanding  the  change  of 


332  T'IFE  Op  GEORGE   M.  TROUP.  [CHAP,  X. 

circumstances  which  produced  it.  On  the  part  of  the 
Government  of  Georgia,  the  will  of  its  highest  constituted 
authority  has  been  declared,  upon  the  most  solemn  deliber- 
ation, that  the  line  shall  be  run  and  the  survey  executed. 
It  is  for  you,  therefore,  to  bring  it  to  the  issue — it  is  for  me 
only  to  repeat  that,  cost  what  it  will,  the  line  will  be  run 
ano!  the  survey  effected.  The  Government  of  Georgia 
will  not  retire  from  the  position  it  occupies,  to  gratify  the 
Agent  or  the  hostile  Indians  ;  nor  will  it  do  so,  I  trust,  be- 
cause it  knows  that,  in  consequence  of  disobedience  to  an 
unlawful  mandate,  it  may  very  soon  be  recorded  that 
"Georgia  was." 

Sutler  me  to  say,  also,  that  your  Government  has  acted 
very  precipitately  and  unadvisedly  in  this  affair:  after 
receiving  notice  of  my  intention  to  make  the  survey,  it 
interposed  no  objection,  though  it  had  time  to  do  so.  A  con- 
siderable interval  elapsed,  and  it  receives  false:  information 
from  the  Agent,  upon  which  it  issues  its  peremptory  order 
— soon  after,  it  "receives  further  false  information  from  the 
same  Agent,  upon  which  it  issues  other  orders  contirmatory 
of  the  first,  and  which  you  seem  to  consider  final. 

But  for  my  direct  and  active  interference,  hostilities  would 
have  immediately  followed  the  death  of  Mclntosh,  and  of 
a  character  so  inveterate  as  to  put  at  defiance  any  interfer- 
ence whatever,  even  on  your  part.  Your  powers,  not  your 
influence,  might  have  been  availing,  to  be  sure,  but  your 
power  was  not  here ;  and  for  preserving  this  peace  you 
know  what  a  respectful  testimonial  I  have  of  the  thanks  of 
your  Government,  couched  in  the  most  delicate  and  com- 
plimentary terms. 

The  suggestion  you  make  in  derogation  of  our  claim  to 
participate  in  the  construction  or  execution  of  the  treaty, 
giving  to  that  suggestion  its  utmost  force,  is  merely  that 
we  are  not  nominally  parties  to  the  treaty — whilst  the  answer 
to  it  is,  that  we  are  party  in  interest  deeper  tenfold  than 
they  who  appear  upon  the  paper,  and  that  the  paper,  in 
virtue  of  another  paper  to  which  we  are  parties,  both  nom- 
inally and  in  interest,  passed  a  vested  right  of  soil  and  of 
jurisdiction  to  Georgia,  which  none  but  the  great  Jehovah 
can  divest. 

You  will  be  pleased  to  understand  that  there  is  no  incli- 
nation here  to  urge  hastily  either  the  survey  or  the  running 
of  the  line,  so  as  to  interfere  in  the  least  with  the  measures 
to  be  taken  to  pacify  and  tranquilize  the  Indians.  On  the 
contrary,  all  the  facilities  we  can  give  for  this  object,  will 
be  readily  afforded ;  but  it  is  believed  that  in  reasonable 


CHAP.  X.]  INSTRUCTIONS  TO  COMMISSIONERS.  333 

time  this  happy  result  can,  with  wise  and  prudent  measures, 
of  which  your  special  Agent  was  advised  yesterday,  be  easily 
accomplished  ;  .but  never  to  be  accomplished  if  the  con- 
dition of  that  accomplishment  be  the  abandonment  of  the 
survey  and  running  of  the  line. 

What,  in  our  verbal  conferences,  had  been  promised,  is 
now  repeated,  that  the  military  requisitions  which,  in  com- 
pliance with  your  instructions,  you  may  think  proper  to 
make  upon  the  Government  of  Georgia,  will  be  promptly 
attended  to,  and  the  force  placed  under  your  command  with 
the  least  possible  delay.  The  implicit  reliance  in  your  high 
sentiments  of  honor,  is  my  sufficient  security  that,  that  force, 
if  it  could,  will  in  no  event  be  employed  against  us. 

On  the  llth  of  June,  the  Governor  had  written  to  Messrs. 
Warren  Jourdan,  William  W.  Williamson,  Seaborn  Jones 
and  William  H.  Torrance,  informing  them  of  their  appoint- 
ment, under  authority  of  the  resolution  of  the  Legislature, 
to  receive  and  take  testimony  in  the  case  of  the  Agent  for 
Indian  affairs.  He  said :  "  as  the  party  concerned  disclaims 
the  authority  of  the  State  to  interfere,  it  is  not  to  be  presumed 
that  application  will  be  made  to  you  for  leave  to  cross-ex- 
amine. Should,  however,  such  application  be  made,  you 
will  not  hesitate  to  grant  it,  giving  timely  notice  of  persons 
to  be  examined,  and  the  time  and  place  of  such  examina- 
tion," &c.,  &c. 


33±  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 


CHAPTER  XL 

Canvass  for  Governor — Gov.  '/'/•«»/)  and  Oen.  Cl<irk  riral  C<ni<l!- 

i/ufi "N —  Political     i  .n-ltrmi  i,t — I  ml  iii  n      Jif/l<  U//ii  s      runt  i '///"  ,/ — 

'  Major  Andrew* — Gfov6nor*t  correspondence 

'nl  I'-il't  i    <//'     ir<//-,    <(V. — 

••iff    <  f.    election  for    <i>»-,  /•/"</• — ••  •'.,•     /miiti/in-ft.    ir/nf. 

Message  t»  (hr   I.  '     '    •   >f   //<<•    /,••// <V</ ////•< — 

Counties  laid  out,  <£"c.,  &c. 

On  the  5th  day  of  April,  1825,  the  following  announce- 
ment appeared  in  +he  Georgia  Journal,  a  lead  ing  newspaper 
published  at  Milledgeville,  and  possessing  the  confidence 
of  the  Governor : 

"t5^*"  Gov.TROUP  is  a  candidate  for  re-election  to  the 
office  he  now  holds. 

"  t^lP  We  are  re-guested  to  state  that  Gen.  CLARK  is  a 
candidate  for  the  office  of  Governor. " 

The  canvass  had  now  opened,  and  the  contest  was  to  be 
the  hottest  ever  witnessed  in  Georgia,  and  the  excitement 
more  intense  than  upon  any  other  occasion  of  a  civil  na- 
ture, unless,  perhaps,  that  which  sprang  up  out  of  the 
Yazoo  fraud.  In  consenting  to  an  election  by  the  Legisla- 
ture, in  1823,  Gov.  Troup  had  so  far  put  himself  at  the 
service  of  his  friends,  as  to  impose  upon  himself  a  sort  of 
moral  obligation  to  yield  to  their  wishes  in  a  canvass  be- 
fore the  people.  Besides,  it  was  due  to  himself  not  to 
retire  from  a  contest,  the  great  interest  and  excitement  of 
which  had  grown  out  of  his  own  firm  and  manly  adminis- 
tration of  the  affairs  of  the  State.  Whilst  he  had  no  par- 
ticular ambition  to  gratify  by  a  re-election  to  the  office  of 
Chief  Magistrate,  it  was  natural  that  he  should  desire  to 
see  his  measures  of  government  passed  upon  with  approba- 
tion by  the  people  whom  he  had  so  faithfully  served  ;  and 
he  had  too  little  fear  of  defeat,  and  too  much  confidence  in 


CHAP.  XL]  GOY.  TROUP  AND  GEX.  CLARK.  335 

his  fellow-citizens,  to  decline  a  contest  so  much  desired 
by  his  friends,  and  so  proper  under  all  the  circumstances 
by  which  he  was  encompassed. 

Nothing  was  more  natural  than  that  the  opposition  should 
brins;  out  their  well-tried  and  veteran  leader.     He  had  been 

O 

Governor  two  consecutive  terms ;  but  what  of  that  '*  There 
was  no  legal,  no  constitutional  ineligibility.  Gen.  Clark 
had  given  his  name  to  the  party  opposed  to  Mr.  Crawford 
and  his  friends,  long  before  Col.  Troup  had  been  named  in 
connection  with  gubernatorial  honors,  or  had  evinced  his 
remarkable  talents  for  executive  duties.  "  Troup  and  Clark  " 
now  rang  through  the  State ;  and,  whilst  it  was  clear  that  the 
friends  of  the  former  had  nothing  to  rely  upon,  in  sup- 
port of  their  chief,  but  his  talents,  virtues  and  great  public 
services,  it  was  certain  that  in  the  latter  they  had  to  en- 
counter a  foeman,  who,  to  abilities  of  no  ordinary  sort,  and 
long  public  services  in  the  field  and  at  the  council-board, 
had  the  faculty  of  winning  support  where  less  sagacious 
politicians  would  have  failed.  Whatever  faults  Gen.  Clark 
may  have  had — and  who  is  free  from  them  ? — he  was  never 
charged  with  want  of  fidelity  to  his  friends,  or  the  lack  of 
power  to  conciliate  where  success  was  possible  by  worthy 
means.  Hence,  he  was  beloved  by  his  party,  and  was  a  dan- 
gerous competitor  with  any  rival. 

Before  the  close  of  the  contest,  Gov.  Troup  was  running  un- 
der and  against  a  combination  of  circumstances  that  seemed 
little  favorable  to  his  re-election.  Independently  of  the 
great  popularity  of  his  rival,  he  had  to  contend  against 
the  sympathies  and  probably  the  patronage  of  the  Federal 
Executive  ;  many  weak-minded  and  timid  persons  thought 
his  administration  too  bold ;  many  honest  men,  whilst  they 
could  not,  in  calm  moments,  believe  his  motives  to  be 
impure,  yet  thought  or  feared  he  might  precipitate  a  crisis, 
that  would  result  in  civil  strife  between  the  United  States 
and  Georgia.  Besides  having  to  encounter  much  of  the 
hereditary  hatred  which  the  Clark  party  bore  to  Mr. 
Crawford  and  his  friends,  he  had  to  stand  the  brunt  of  all 
the  opposition  which  his  controversy  with  General  Gaines, 


336  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUT.  [CHAP.  XI. 

Major  Andrews  and  Col.  Crowell,  had  engendered.  Add 
to  all  this,  his  contempt  for  those  little  arts  and  blandish- 
ments which  politicians  know  so  well  how  to  use,  and 
by  which  temporary  success  is  often  gained — and,  to  a 
casual  observer,  his  chance  might  have  seemed  hopeless. 
But  this  was  ..only  the  outside  view.  lie  had  then  had 
much  experience  in  the  public  service,  had  never  disap- 
pointed public  expectation;  and  though  it  could  not  be 
said  of  him,  as  some  one  has  remarked  of  Mr.  Jefferson, 
t/t'tf  l>  a"-  j'CccJi,  founded  a  sect,  or  fomjht 

a  'battle;  yet,  like  that  great  statesman,  he  had  rarely 
misjudged  men  or  measures,  and  could  show  a  political 
record,  as  remarkable  for  its  consistency,  as  it  was  untar- 
nished by  any,  the  slightest  taint  of  dishonor.  If  ever 
a  statesman,  in  our  times,  passed  through  a  long  public 
life,  with  clean  hands  and  a  good  cnscience,  that  man  was 
George  M.  Troup. 

"We  proceed  now  to  the  course  of  the  Governor  in  regard 
to  the  Agent  of  Indian  affairs,  and  his  correspondence  with 
the  special  Agent  on  that  subject.  On  the  8th  of  June,  he 
wrote  to  Major  Andrews  to  learn  whether  he  had  not,  in  a 
certain  conversation,  stated  that  the  evidence  submitted  to 
him  did  not  furnish  even  probable  cause  to  suspect  the 
Indian  Agent  as  guilty  under  the  charges  exhibited  against 
him  in  the  Governor's  letter  of  31st  May,  &c. 

In  his  reply,  the  same  day,  Major  Andrews  denied  the 
justice  of  the  inference  deduced  from  that  conversation,  and 
stated  his  recollection  of  the  result  of  that  conversation  to 
be,  that,  until  he  was  furnished  with  the  documents  and  evi- 
dence referred  to  in  the  Governor's  letter  of  31st  May,  he 
did  not  consider  himself  at  liberty  to  form  any  opinion, 
even  as  to  the  propriety  of  suspending  the  Agent,  &c. 
-  He  added : 

I  beg  the  attention  of  your  Excellency  to  my  letter,  of 
the  31st  May,  by  which,  you  will  perceive  I  expected  to  be 
able  to  furnish  the  Agent,  in  case  his  suspension  was  decided 
on,  with  a  copy  of 'the  charges  and  specifications  made 
against  him,  immediately  on  his  being  suspended,  that  ''he 
might  be  able  to  defend  himself  before  his  government 


CHAP.  XL]  LETTERS  TO  MAJOR  ANDREWS.  337 

with  as  little  delay  as  possible  ; "  and  that  his  suspension 
would  also  depend  on  the  present  state  of  excitement  among 
the  Indians.  This  course,  your  Excellency  will  do  me  the 
justice  to  believe,  is  in  strict  accordance  with  the  instruc- 
tions of  my  Government.  I  have  delayed  all  proceedings, 
(even  to  a  formal  acknowledgment  of  the  receipt  of  your 
letter  of  the  31st  ultimo,)  waiting  to  be  furnished  with  the 
documents  and  evidence  promised  in  it.  So  soon  as  I  shall 
be  honored  by  its  receipt,  (if  General  Gaines  shall  have 
arrived,)  I  will  immediately  proceed  to  execute  the 
intentions  of  the  President,  as  made  known  to  your  Excel- 
lency. 

On  the  13th  of  June,  the  Governor  wrote  a  letter  to 
Major  Andrews,  in  which  he  said : 

"  In  compliance  with  a  resolution  of  the  Legislature  of 
the  State  of  Georgia,  I  place  you  in  possession  of  the 
report  of  a  committee,  the  resolutions  which  follow,  and 
the  evidence  which  supports  them,  in  the  case  of  the  Agent 
for  Indian  A  flairs,  whose  conduct,  in  connection  with  the 
late  disturbances  in  the  Creek  nation,  has  been  recently  a 
subject  of  investigation  before  that  Legislature. 

He  wrote  again,  as  follows,  on  the  14th  : 

In  the  conversations  held  with  yourself  and  Gen. 
Gaines,  in  relation  to  the  objects  of  your  mission,  you 
were  pleased  to  express  a  desire  to  receive  from  myself 
any  views  or  suggestions  which  might  usefully  contribute 
to  the  results  which  were  most  desirable.  These,  in  pass- 
ing, have  been  hitherto  frankly  given.  As  it  is  determined 
that  one  or  both  of  you  will  proceed  to  attend  the  convention 
of  the  Indians  about  to  be  holden  at  Broken  Arrow  and  the 
Indian  Springs,  it  becomes  my  duty  to  disclose  to  you,  in  a 
special  manner,  the  opinions  entertained  of  this  first  and 
most  important  movement,  so  that,  if  miscarriage  follow,  the 
councils  of  Georgia  will  share  in  no  degree  the  responsi- 
bility of  that  miscarriage.  It  is  known  to  be  one  of  your 
objects  to  elicit  from  the  convention  the  truths  connected 
with  the  late  and  present  disorders  in  the  nation — a  devel- 
opment which  the  councils  of  Georgia  cannot  fail  to  regard 
with  very  deep  concern.  It  has  been  more  than  once 
asked  of  you,  therefore,  if,  preparatory  to  this  movement, 
it  did  not  seem  to  you  as  indispensable  to  suspend  the 
Agent  from  his  functions,  under  the  authority  vested  in  you 
by  your  Government.  The  answers  given  have  been  re- 
ceived with  pain  and  regret,  because  they  indicated  an 
43 


338  LIFK  01''  GEORGE  M.  Tl:  [Oii.u-.  Xi. 

intention  to  forbear  the  exercise  of  the  power,  at  least  for 
the  present,  whilst  it  is  plainly  foreseen  that  the  present  is 
the  only  moment  at  which  the  exercise  of  it  would  he  of 
any  value  to  you,  or  i  the  fulfilment  of  the  objects 

of  your  mission,    and    fur  this   very    obvious  reason:  the 

it,  in  virtue  of  his  official  power,  exercising  a  control- 
ling influence  over  one  portion  of  the  nation,  lias  already 

ubled  that  portion,  and  you  see  in  the  morning's  paper 
by  what  a  formidable  and  imposing  array  of  Chiefs  he 
stands  exculpated  and  acquitted.  Kow,  Bir,  1  appcal'to 
your  good  sense  to  inform  me  of  what  avail  will  be  the 
contemplated  convocation  and  catechising  of  the  Indians, 
the  Agent  holding  to  his  commission  and  wielding  his 
accustomed  powers  .'  Is  it  to  be  belie ved  that,  under  like 
circumstance  ..'ill  reconsider  their  minutes  and  alter 

theii  M).     In  matters  even  of  this  kind,  they 

have  sagacity  and  shrewd:ie-s,  and  a  decent  regard  for  the 
opinions  of  the  won  doubting  that  your< 

the  ascertainment  of  truth,  it  is  hoped  that  you  will  suffer 
no  obstacles  to  imped  ,  -to  it;  the  i  nda- 

ble  of  all  stands  directly  iu  your  way.  'T  is  impossible 
that  the  faintest  ray  of  light  can  reach  you,  when  it  is 
known  that,  in  de.-pite  of  all  that  has  transpired  of  crimi- 
nation, of  investigation,  of  evidence,  and  of  i  .  the 

:it  is  present  Jo  the  Indians  in  his  rob.  line,  yet 

sustained  by  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  as  if  his 
purity  were  spotless  and  his   name    unsullied — the  si 
in  authority  as  he  always  has  been — the  same  whom 

•Id  in  prospect  to  be  their  leader  through  new  tr 
their  counselor  in  evil  times,  and  the  supreme  director  of 
their    destinies    in    all  times.     Can  it  be   presumed    that, 
under  such  circumstances,  the    Indians  will  speak  to 
without   restraint '(     The   documents  of    incontestable  au- 
thority prove  to  you  that  they  will  not.     No,  Sir ;  the  way 
to  the  accomplishment  of  the  ends  of  your  mission,  is  < 
— suspend  the  Agent  —  make  atonement  to  the  friends  of 
Mclntosh  for  the  blood  shed  by  the  guilty  instrument 
white  men — restore  the  friendly   chiefs  to  their  political 
rank  and  power,  and,  my  word  for  it,  you  will  find  truth, 
and  enough  of  it,  for  any  purpose — peace,  reconciliation  and 
union. 

To  this  letter  and  that  of  the  loth,  Major  Andrews  re- 
plied, from  the  Creek  Agency,  Flint  River,  on  the  18th, 
stating  that  he  had  not  received  an  official  copy  of  the 


CHAP.  XL]       MAJOR  ANDREWS  AND  COL.  CROWELL.  339 

documents  promised  in  the  Governor's  letter  of  31st  May 
—urging  that  they  be  furnished,  and  also  that  the  Agent 
of  the  Government  be  furnished  with  any  additional  tes- 
timony which  the  Governor  might  wish  to  offer  against 
the  Indian  Agent,  &c.,  &c.  He  stated,  further,  that  he 
entertained  different  opinions  from  those  expressed  in  the 
Governor's  last  letter,  and  especially  in  regard  to  the  suspen- 
sion of  the  Agent — that,  after  a  careful  examination  of  the 
testimony  taken  by  the  committee  (of  the  Legislature,)  he 
did  not  think  that  the  suspension  was  demanded  on  the 
ground  contemplated  in  his  letter  of  31st  May,  and  by  the 
Government — that  he  did  not  think  the  presence  of  the 
Indian  Agent  at  any  place,  or  under  any  circumstances, 
would  be  prejudicial  to  truth — that  he  had  hoped,  as  the 
Governor's  message  of  3d  June  implied  doubt  of  the 
Agent's  guilt,  and  he  had  been  acquitted  generally  of  one 
of  the  charges,  by  the  report  adopted  by  the  Legislature, 
but  still  had  the  influence  and  power  of  the  Executive  and 
Legislature  against  him,  and  that,  too,  on  exparte  testimony, 
that  the  Agent  would  not,  on  his  trial,  have  to  complain  of 
any  acts,  on  the  part  of  another,  that  might  appear  to  par- 
take of  oppression.  Nevertheless,  "in  courtesy"  to  the 
Governor's  fixed  opinion,  &c.,  he  would  suspend  the  Agent ; 
but  thought  that  public  opinion  should  not  be  forestalled 
by  the  publication  of  exparte  testimony  against  the  Agent, 
&c.,  &c. 

Gov.  Troup  replied,  on  20th  June,  and  said  : 

I  have,  this  moment,  received  your  letter,  of  the  ISth 
instant,  dated  at  the  Creek  Agency.  The  printing  of  the 
documents  and  evidence  having  relation  to  the  disor- 
ders in  the  nation,  and  to  the  charges  exhibited  by  this 
Government,  will  be  completed,  it  is  understood,  in  the 
course  of  the  day,  so  that  a  copy  will  be  forwarded  for  your 
use,  in  the  course  of  to-morrow.  The  commission  authorized 
by  the  Legislature  to  take  further  testimony,  will,  for  that 
purpose,  proceed,  forthwith,  to  the  nation,  and  under 
orders  to  make  all  possible  dispatch. 

You  have  widely  mistaken  me,  if  you  believe  that  any 
disposition  exists  here,  to  withhold  from  the  Agent  the 


340  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  '.  XI. 

most  ample  moans  of  justifying  liimself  to  his  Government ; 
much  less  any  desire  for  the  performance  of  an  act  on  your 
part  that  would  savor  of  oppression:  on  the  contrary. 
Government  desires  that  the  fairest  opportunity  shall  he 
a  Horded  the  accused,  of  profiting  of  every  description  of 
testimony  which  may  be  available  for  his  complete  vindi- 
cation, free  from  any  obs'  embarr;  \vhich  it 
might  have  the  power  to  interpose.     It  was  in  this  spirit 
that  my  instructions  to  the  Oommie                -M-C  drafted;  and, 
although  it  was  known  that  ti               ;   had  disclaimed  the 
autliority  of  the  Government   of  '                 to  interfere,  and 
that,  therefore,  there  was  little  probabili' 
the  benefit  of  a  particular  instruction  n  in- 
struction has  heen  given,  which  will  admit  him,  at  his  ]  : 
nre,  to  he  present  at  the  investigation  on  our  part,  and  to 
exercise  the  right  of                   inination   freely.      V 
I  can  add,  with  great  sincerity,  that  it  will  giv>-  me  pi 
ure,  at  any  time,  to  contribute  aids  and  facilities  to  his 
defence;  for,  wh:it'-\<-r  I  may   believe  of  the,  :,'mlt  or  inno- 
•  <>t'  the  Agent,  I  trust  that  one  and  all  of  us.  for  the 
honor  of  onr  own   human  nature,  would  gladly  sec  him 
vindicated  and   justilied  against  such  charge-  as  have  heen 
preferred  by  this  Government.      WhiUi,  hoy/ever.  I 
ance  is  given,  it  is  nevertheless  true  that  you  have  very  much 
misconceived  the                      '  my  me                hich,  ace- 
ing  to  yonr  construction  of  it,  5inj)lies  doubt  of  iho  guilt  of 
the  Agent — no  such  doubt  exists.     It  was  not  said  that  the 
•ut  had  committed  crimes,  because  it  was  not  intended 
to  say  so;  it  was  enough  that  the  Agent  had  been  char 
with  the  commission  of  them;  and,  having  exhibited  the 
charges,  I  presume  you  would  not  have  !                        Us  to 
the  indelicacy  of  the  accuser  passing  sentence  upon  the  ac- 
cused.    But,  whilst  this  was  purp-                 :ded  there,  I  can 
very  freely  make  known  to  yon  here,  that  if,  instead  of 
passing  upon  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  accused,  .1  had 
been  stating  my  belief  from  the  evidence  even  no\\ 
closed,  and  expa/rt*  as  it.  may  be,  I  would  have  said,  without 
hesitation,  that,  with  respect  to  the  one  charge,  I  believed  him 
guilty  of  that  beyond  the  possibility  of  refutation,  and  that 
with  regard  to  the  other,  lie  was  so  far  innocent  only  as  he 
was  not  present  at  the  time  and  place,  ini'icting  the  blows 
with  his  own  hands.     Taking  very  opposite  views  of  the 
subject,  yon  seem  to  have  yielded'  a  reluctant  and  ungra- 
cious assent  to  the  suspension  of  the  Agent,  and  indeed  to 
indulge  a  little  the  language  of  complaint,  lest  injury  n 
by  possibility  result  from  it  to  the  accused 


CHAP.  XI.]  LETTER  TO  MAJOR  ANDREWS. 

Be  persuaded,  .sir,  that  this  act  of  suspension  is  in  no 
respect  personally  gratifying  to  me  ;  nor  were  feelings  of 
any  kind  connected  with  nay  suggestion  of  the  propriety  of 
it,  but  those  which  yourself  must  have  indulged  for  the 
successful  fulfilment  of  the  objects  of  your  mission.  I 
repeat  what  was  before  alledged  in  support  of  that  sug- 
gestion, that  it  could  not  be  conceived  how  it  would  be 
possible  for  you  to  make  any,  the  least,  advance  to  the 
attainment  of  truth,  or  to  the  pacification  of  the  Indians, 
without  it  as  a  first  and  indispensable  measure.  The  friendly 
Chiefs  had  already  given  your  Government  to  understand 
that  they  would  never  consent  to  commit  themselves  again 
to  the  protection  of  the  Agent ;  and  you  were  almost  present 
to  witness  that,  by  the  power  and  influence  of  his  office,  the 
hostile  Chiefs  had  been  convoked,  and  a  declaration  of  the  in- 
nocence of  the  Agent  either  extorted  or  otherwise  obtained ; 
and  this,  too,  just  before  the  period  had  arrived  at  which 
General  Gaines  and  yourself  were  to  convene  the  same 
Indians,  for  the  purpose  of  obtaining  from  them  fairly  and 
honestly  the  truth ;  a  fact  well  known  to  the  Agent,  but 
which  i'act  did  not  prevent  him  from  thus  forestalling  and 
anticipating  you. 

"When  you  permit  yourself  to  say  that  the  Agent  "  has 
not,  so  far  as  the  investigation  has  been  pursued  by  the 
authorities  of  Georgia,  been  informed  of  the  nature  and 
cause  of  the  accusation,"  you  will  sutler  me  to  answer, 
that  this  has  been  no  omission  of  ours,  but  of  yours.  It  was 
part  of  your  duty  to  have  notified  the  Agent,  so  soon  as  the 
charges  were  received,  of  the  existence  of  those  charges ; 
and,  with  regard  to  specifications,  I  assure  you  that,  unless 
for  some  very  useful  purpose  to  the  interests  of  Georgia,  I 
would  not  take  the  trouble  to  sit  down  to  paper  to  make 
them.  The  Agent  is  charged  with  instigating  the  Indians 
to  the  commission  of  the  crime  of  murder,  and  with  pre- 
determined resolution  to  prevent  the  Indians  from  mak- 
ing cession  of  the  lands  so  long  as  a  certain  person  was 
at  the  head  of  the  Government  of  Georgia  ;  and  these, 
in  all  reason,  are  specifications  enough.  We  are  not  exhibit- 
ing charges  against  the  Agent  as  offending  the  martial  law, 
to  which  a  long  detail  of  specifications,  according  to  cus- 
tom, must  be  subjoined.  If  your  Government  wants  further 
specification,  it  must  seek  it  elsewhere  ;  and  this,  sir,  is 
obviously  the  mistaken  bias  under  which  you  and  your 
Government  labor.  You  are  willing  to  resolve  every 
thing  into  prejudice  against  the  Agent,  for  his  protection — 
whereas,  it  is  notorious  that  the  prejudice  of  your  Govern- 


34:2  :   OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  P.  XI. 

mcnt  has  been  so  far  advantageous  to  him,  tliat  it  is  very 
dillicult  to  subdue  i'  kind  of  evidence.  "Witli  re- 

spect to  "the  right  of  <  tibn  with  the  witn  ;;'mst 

him,''  there  is  abundant  time  for  that,  w!  -finding 

a  true  bill,  he  shall  bo  arraigned  at  the  bar  of  justice— 
and.  with  regard  to  his  "not  having  compulsory  process  for 
obtaining  witnesses  in  hi-  mired  by  tho  sacred 

instrument  which  guards  the  rights  of  all,"  I  pledge  you 

>r,  that  whenever  I  shall  hear  of  such  g 
injustice  being  done  hii  :  j  competent  and  author- 

tribunal  before  •  d,  I  will  con 

it  as  an  inji;:  .  :ie  byatribunal 

jurisdiction,    and  of  course    punishable 

•  our  co;  •  far 

ds  on  me,  the  utmost  efforts  will  bc>  made  to  1 
'uncut  all  or  any  public 
ling. 

The  documents  are  in  a  com  n,  by  order 

of  the  Legislature.     Having  been  pn  ::iade  public 

by  that  '  :'>rmal  manner,  it  is  not 

seen  that  any  further  publi'-  them  can    operate 

injuriously  t  •  .-ould  seem  to  be  better, 

even  on  'iint,  that  after  so  mnch  had  been  made 

known  of  their  con!  .;ilcl  be  known,  and  that 

:ld  be  left  for  inference  or  conjecture;  es- 
pecially, too,  as  the  public,  understanding  the  character 
of  the  evidence  to  be  .  will  be  able  to  estimate  it  at 

what  it  may  be  worth.  It  may  be  proper  to  add  that,  by  a 
special  and  -  ution,  the  Governor  is  directed  to 

cause  them  to  be  distributed  through  all  the  countic- 
soon  as  they   are  printed,  and  you   arc  already  informed 
that  the  printing  will  be  complete  in  the  course  of  to-day. 


Major  Andrews,  replied,  from  the  Creek  Agency,  on 
June,  disclaiming  any  intention  to  express  a  belief  that 
the  authorities  of  Georgia  were  disposed  to  withhold  fmm 
the  Agent  the  means  of  ju  elf;  yet  expressing  his 

conviction  that  their  course  towards  him  must  operate 
oppressively,  Occ.  He  then  corrects  an  error  into  which  the 
Governor  had  fallen  ;  by  showing  that  the  convocation  of 
the  Chiefs  by  the  Agent,  and  the  procuring  by  him  of  doc- 
uments from  the;  :,  occurred  "  before  it 

was  possible  for  the  Agent  to  know  that  Gen.  Gaines  or  an 


CHAP.  XI.]  FURTHER  CORRESPONDENCE.  343 

Agent  of  the  government  were  ordered  here."  He  insist- 
ed that  specifications  were  necessary,  as  an  act.  of  justice, 
to  a  fair  trial  of  the  Agent,  &c.,  and  that  before  the  trial 
of  the  Agent  his  punishment  had  been  demanded — to  wit, 
his  dismissal,  &c.,  &c.,  and  that  the  publication  against 
which  suggestion  was  made,  was  the  publication  in  the 
news  papers  and  not  in  pamphlet.  The  writer  concluded 
with  a  respectful  protest  against  the  imputation  of  preju- 
dice to  the  General  Government,  &e. 
The  Governor  replied  as  follows : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPAimiENT, 
Milledgemlle,  %lth  June,  1825. 

Sir :  I  have  this  moment  received  your  letter  of  the  23d 
inst.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  correct,  without  delay, 
an  error  into  which  I  had  fallen,  and  in  consequence  of  not 
adverting  particularly  to  the  date  of  the  certificate  obtained 
from  the  Indians  by  the  Agent,  and  published  as  part  of  his 
defence  in  one  of  the  last  papers.  From  a  comparison  of 
dates,  it  does  appear  that  that  certificate  was  obtained  before 
the  Agent  knew  that  yourself  and  General  Gaines  would 
proceed  to  Broken  Arrow  to  convene  a  Council  or  institute 
an  inquiry.  "Whilst  this  correction,  therefore,  is  most 
cheerfully  made,  you  cannot  but  admit  the  utter  immateri- 
ality of  it  to  the  Agent  for  any  objects  or  interests  of  his; 
for  the  fact  still  turns  out  to  be,  that  whilst  the  Agent,  in 
procuring  that  certificate,  did  not  intend  to  forestall,  in 
particular,  General  Gaines  and  yourself,  in  making  a  cer- 
tain examination,  he  did  well  know  that  it  would  forestall 
General  Gaines  or  yourself  or  any  others  whom  your  Gov- 
ernment might  at  any  time  depute  to  make  an  examination 
there  ;  and  this  is  the  fact,  and  the  only  fact,  of  any  conse- 
quence to  the  argument. 

On  the  subject  of  specifications  to  which  you  have  again 
called  my  attention,  I  have  only  to  remark,  that,  if  your 
Government  pleases  to  forbear  further  inquiry  or  investi- 
gation into  the  conduct  of  the  Agent,  either  because  it 
(derives  no  specifications  from  me,  or  because  those  specifi- 
cations are  not  precisely  such,  in  manner  and  form,  as  are 
agreeable  to  itself,  it  has  the  power  to  do  so.  But  if  your 
Government  has  not  found  matter  enough  for  specifications, 
(if  indeed  they  be  at  all  important.)  in  the  published 
accredited  documents,  or,  finding  it  there  in  abundance, 
shall  not  choose  to  frame  them  for  itself,  I  assure  you,  Sir, 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROIT.  [Ciup.  XI. 

I  would  noi:  know  where  to  proceed  to  look  for  it,  even 

if  1  believed  it  (as  I  do  n  my  duty  to  furnish  those 

specifications.     "When  time  shall  have  disclosed  that  I  was 

mistaken  in  attributing  prejudice  t<>  your  Government  in 

behalf  of  its  Agent,  although   that    belief   has   not  been 

:ned  upon  light  ground,  and   is  so  far  sustained  by  the 

rrences  of  e\  ,  I  assure  you,  Sir,  I  shall  pro. 

without  delay,  to  render  to  it  the  fullest  measure  of  justice 

which  injured  honor  could  require  from  a  deceived  accuser. 

Very  respectful . 

Your  oli,  rv't, 

T.  P.  Andrews"  G.  M.  Tu-> 

Special  Agent. 

Frequent  reference  having  been  made  to  the  certificate 
of  the  Indians  in  behalf  of  Col.  Crowell,  it  is  proper  to 
insert  it  here.  The  following  is  all  that  is  necessary  : 

We,  the  undersigned,  chiefs  and  head-men  of  the  ' 
Xation,  do  certify  and  declare  that  we  determined,  of  our 
own  free  will  and  accord,  to  put  to  death  the  Chief  Mc- 
into-di,  and  that  neither  the  Agent,  John  Crowell,  or  any 

•  white  man,  were   the  instigators  or  abettors — nor  do 
we  know  or  believe  that  he,  the  Agent,  knew  that  we  had 

•  iieh  design — nor  did  we  communicate  it  to  any  bin  a 
>ld  and  head-men.     A\V  determined  to  pat  him  to  death 

for   a  violation   of  a  law  first  proposed  by  him  and  sanc- 

d  by  the  nig  Warrior  and  Little  Prince — and  then  the 

different  tov,  culled  up,  and  the  lawyers,  who  had 

:;sly    made    by    Mclntosh,    Uig    Warrior   and 

Little  Prince,  were  directed  to  put  into  execution  this  law, 

chief  or  other  person  who  broke  it,  however 

great   he    might  be,  even  Big  Warrior,  Little  Prince  or 

Mclntoeh. 

To  this  were  added  the  following  statements  in  the 
form  of  question  and  answer :  1st.  That  the  law  "  to 
take  the  life  of  a  Chief  of  this  Xation  who  should  sell 
the  lands  of  the  Nation  without  the  consent  of  the  nation," 
was  first  made  "  on  the  west  bank  of  the  ( )akmulgee,  at  the 
time  the  land  belonged  to  them,  the  Indians."  2d.  If 
the  Agent  had  directed  the  killing  of  Mclntosh,  "we 
would  not,  (have  done  it)  for  he  was  not  placed  here  for 
that  purpose."  No  white  person  knew  it,  "  but  James 


CHAP.  XL]        THE  GOVERNOR  AND  MAJOR  ANDREWS.  3  45 

Hutton,  who  was  born  and  raised  in  the  Nation  and  con- 
sidered as  one  of  us,  who  we  took  as  an  interpreter."  It  was 
further  stated  that  "  the  Chief  who  commanded  the  party 
that  executed  Mclntosh,  was  asked  if  he  told  Mclntosh's 
wife,  or  any  person,  that  the  Agent  directed  him  to  do  so," 
replied,  "  No,  and  that  he  did  not  believe  his  men  had  done 
so,  nor  had  he  heard  anything  about  it — and  the  Chief, 
after  hearing  what  Chilly  Mclntosh  had  said,  relative  to 
their  shooting  at  and  pursuing  him  to  the  river,  contra- 
dicted it,  and  said  they  neither  shot  at,  nor  pursued  him,  in 
short  made  no  exertions  to  ketch  (catch)  him."  The  whole 
was  signed  by  Little  Prince  and  36  others,  and  was  dated 
the  14th  May,  1825. 

The  following  is  inserted  somewhat  out  of  its  chronolog- 
ical order,  but  in  its  appropriate  place  : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,          ) 
Mittedgeville,  18th  June,  1825.    i 

Sir  :  From  the  course  recently  pursued  by  the  Agent, 
in  procuring  from  the  Chiefs  of  the  hostile  Indians, 
under  the  influence  of  his  office,  and  from  the  Missionaries, 
their  attestation  to  his  innocence,  the  Commissioners  ap- 
pointed under  the  authority  of  the  Legislature,  are  directed 
to  proceed  to  Broken  Arrow,  to  participate  in  the  councils 
to  be  holden  there  on  the  25th  inst.  So  far  as  they  have 
for  their  objects  the  collection  of  facts  and  development  of 
truths,  as  connected  with  the  late  disturbances  in  the  Na- 
tion, and  the  charges  exhibited  by  this  Government  against 
the  Agent  of  the  United  States  for  Indian  Affairs — they 
are  instructed  specially  to  avoid  any  interference,  unless 
solicited,  with  the  political  arrangements  or  negotiations 
between  the  United  States  and  the  Indians,  which  apper- 
tain exclusively  to  the  relations  and  interests  subsisting 
between  them,  and  to  which  the  State  of  Georgia  is  no 
party.  It  is  hoped  and  expected  that  this  measure  will 
meet  your  concurrence  and  approbation. 

"With  great  respect,  &c., 

G.  M.  TRQUF. 
Maj.  T.  P.  Andrews, 

Special  Agent. 

On  the  morning  of  the  28th  of  June,  the  following  letter 
44 


346  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CiiAr.  XI. 

from  Major  Andrews  to  Col.  Crowell,  appeared  in  one  of 
the  public  newspapers  at  Milledgeville  : 

GREEK  AGENCY,   Flint  River,  ) 
June  21, 1825.  f 

Sir  :  You  have  been  advised  of  the  measures  hereto- 
fore taken  by  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the 
Secretary  of  War,  in  relation  to  the  charges,  specific  and 
implied,  made  against  you  as  Indian  Agent.  I  have  now 
to  inform  you,  that  a  suspension  from  the  exercise  of  your 
functions  as  Indian  Agent,  (until  all  the  testimony  to  be  col- 
lected in  the  Indian  nation  has  been  obtained  and 
examine  1.)  has  been  decided  on.  I  herewith  send  you  a 
copy  of  the  evidence  collected  by  a  committee  of  the 
Georgia  Legislature,  and  their  report  as  adopted  by  the 
Legislature.  Copies  of  other  documents,  promised  me  by 
the  Governor  of  Georgia,  shall  be  furnished  yon  as  soon 
as  those  documents  are  received.  You  will  accordingly 
turn  over  the  Agency  to  the  sub-Agent,  Captain  Triplett. 

In  resorting  to  the  discretionary  power  vested  in  mo  by 
the  President,  I  feel  it  due  to  you  to  state  frankly,  that  this 
determination  does  not  proceed  from  any  present  impression 
unfavorable  to  your  innocence.  I  am  not  at  liberty,  in 
my  present  peculiar  situation,  to  form  a  settled  opinion  on 
the  charges  made  against  you,  until  all  the  evidence  to  be 
collected  from  every  quarter  has  been  received  and  care- 
fully examined.  But  1  feel  it  due  to  you  to  say,  that  so  far 
a*  1  am  at  liberty  to  take  up  a  present  impression,  it  is  in 
favor  of  your  integrity  and  honor.  I  feel  it  due  to  you  to 
make  this  statement  in  consequence  of  the  course  (which 
must  be  considered  an  unjust  one,  if  not  oppressive,)  pur- 
sued towards  you  by  the  authorities  of  Georgia — my  im- 
pressions too  being  chiefly  grounded  on  the  c.c -^artc, 
testimony  taken  against  you. 

Your  suspension  is  made  from  courtesy  to  the  authorities 
of  Georgia,  who  have  repeatedly  and  urgently  demanded 
it — on  the  ground  that  it  would  be  impossible  to  elicit  un- 
biased testimony  in  the  Indian  Nation,  whilst  you  are  in  the 
exercise  of  your  functions.  It  is  done,  too,  from  a  desire 
to  do  away  all  pretexts  which  might  otherwise  hereafter  be 
seized  on  to  destroy  confidence- in  the  results  of  the  exami- 
nations. The  suspension  will  be  withdrawn  so  soon  as  those 
examinations  are  concluded,  should  they  result  in  estab- 
lishing your  innocence. 

As  the  object  of  the  General  Government,  in  this  ex- 
amination, is  the  ascertainment  of  truth,  it  could  not  but 


CHAP.  XI.]        MAJOR  ANDREWS  AND  COL.  CROWELL.  347 

give  me  pain,  as  its  Agent,  to  find  that  in  taking  testimony 
against  you,  all  the  usual  prerequisites  were  lost  sight  of  by 
the  authorities  of  Georgia.  You  were  neither  "  informed 
of  the  nature  and  cause  of  the  accusations"  or  confronted 
with  witnesses  against  you,  nor  had  you  "  compulsory  pro- 
cess for  obtaining  witnesses  in  your  favor!"  The  evidence 
on  which  the  harshest  opinions  have  been  formed  and  ex- 
pressed, was  not  only  exporte,  but  it  has  been  spread  before 
the  public,  in  the  newspapers,  before  you  had  been  in- 
formed of  its  character  or  had  an  opportunity  of  making 
your  defence ;  and  public  opinion  thereby  forestalled,  before 
the  General  Government,  under  which  you  hold  your 
appointment,  has  had  an  opportunity  of  examining  the  testi- 
mony of  either  party.  The  course  which  you  have  deter- 
mined to  pursue,  as  made  known  to  me  in  the  copy  of  your 
letter,  of  the  20th,  to  the  Commissioners  appointed  by  the 
Governor  of  Georgia  to  take  further  evidence  against  you — 
in  inviting  them  to  be  present  at  the  examination  of  your 
voluntary  witnesses — is  of  an  opposite  character,  and  cannot 
fail  to  strengthen  the  belief  of  your  conscious  innocence. 

It  is  scarcely  necessary  to  add  that  in  the  exalted  char- 
acter of  the  President  of  the  United  States  and  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  you  have  the  surest  guaranty  of  a  fair  trial, 
and  a  just  decision,  on  it. 

Very  respectfully,  sir, 

Your  most  obedient  servant, 

T.  P.  ANDREWS, 
Col.  John  Crowell.  Special  Agent. 

In  giving  this  letter  to  the  public,  Col.  Crowell,  in  his 
card,  said,  amongst  other  things :  "  Indeed,  the  untiring 
zeal  manifested  by  Gov.  Troup  in  the  accomplishment  of  his 
purpose,  has  rarely  been  equalled  and  never  surpassed — it 
stands  without  a  parallel  in  the  annals  of  persecution ;" 
and  he  afterwards  spoke  of  "  the  inquisitorial  proceedings 
of  the  Governor  and  Legislature  of  Georgia." 

On  seeing  Major  Andrews'  last  letter,  in  print,  the  Gov- 
ernor immediately  addressed  the  following  note  to  Major 
Andrews : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
Milledgeville,  2Sth  June,  1825. 

Sir :  I  call  your  attention  to  a  letter  purporting  to  be 
yours,  and  addressed  to  the  Agent,  in  extenuation  of  your 
conduct  for  the  act  of  suspension,  and  published  in  a  paper 


;>ls  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [(.'HAP.  XI. 

here  of  this  morning,  called  the  Patriot.  If  this  letter  be 
authentic,  von  will  consider  all  intercourse  between  yourself 
and  this  government  suspended  from  the  moment  of  the 
receipt  ot  this. 

GK  M.  TKOVP. 
T.  P.  Andrews, 

Special  Agent  United  States,  Creek  Agency. 

And,  on  the  same  day,  he  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  "War, 
enclosing,  "  for  the  information'of  the  President,1'  the  paper 
containing  Major  Andrews'  letter  "  in  extenuation  of  his 
conduct  in  suspending''  Col.  Crowell  "  from  his  functi* 
under  "  instructions,''  and  said  : 

"If,  in  writing  such   a  letter,  the  Special  Agent  ha 
acted  as  to  find  himself  within  the  letter  or  spirit  of  t' 
instructions,  it  is  obvious  that  the  question  which   lie  was 
charged  to  investigate  had  been  prejudged  at  Washington, 
before  his  departure  from  that  city  ;  and  that,  cons< 
the   Government  of  Georgia  can   no  longer,  consistently 
with  its  dignity,  hold  intercourse  with  that  ofli< 

On  the  4th  of  July,  Major  Andrews  addressed  a  long 
letter  to  Gov.  Troup,  avowing  the  authorship  of  the  letter 
to  Col.  Crowell,  "  with  the  exception  of  a  few  typographi- 
cal errors,"  and  sending  the  Governor  a  corrected  ( 
He  said : 

"  It  is  such  a  letter  as  my  sense  of  justice  imperiously 
called  on  me  to  address  him  in  performing  a  harsh  act 
towards  him — was  approved  of  by  my  best  judgment,  such 
as  it  is — is  approbated  by  a  man."""  who,  for  wisdom,  stands 
inferior  to  few,  and  in  honor  to  none  ;  and  such  an  one  as, 
1  confidently  trust,  will  receive  the  approbation  of  my 
Government.  It  is  such  a  letter  as,  from  my  letters  of  the 
31st  of  May,  8th,  18th  and  28d  of  June,  to  yourself,  and 
our  frequent  verbal  communications,  as  well  as  those 
verbal  and  written  to  your  Aid-de-Camp  and  friend,  Col. 
Lurnpkin,  you  ought,  in  my  opinion,  to  have  anticipated  ; 
and  such  an  one  as  I  was  convinced,  "for  the  honor  of  hu- 
man nature,"  (to  use  your  own  eloquent  expression,)  you 
expected." 

He  spoke,  also,  of  the  Agent's  "  inflexible  integrity  and 
firmness  in  stemming  a  torrent  of  corruption,  disgraceful, 

*  Gen.  Gaincs,  no  doubt.— KD. 


CHAP.  XL]  INSTRUCTIONS  TO  COMMISSIONERS.  349 

in  my  opinion,  to  the  national  character  ;"  and  this,  after 
the  examinations,  "  both  numerous  and  important,"  had 
progressed. 

Pending  his  correspondence  with  Major  Andrews  and 
Gen.  Gaines,  the  Governor,  on  18th  June,  addressed  a  letter 
to  the  Georgia  Commissioners,  Messrs.  Jourdan,  Jones, 
Torrance  and  Williamson,  in  which  he  said  : 

You  are  requested  to  proceed  to  the  Indian  Springs,  to 
attend  a  Council  of  the  friendly  Indians  to  be  holden  there 
on  the  20th  inst.  As  it  is  presumed  that  every  concert 
tendered  on  the  part  of  this  Government  to  assure  a  full 
development  of  the  facts  connected  with  the  late  disturb- 
ances in  the  Creek  Nation,  and  also  such  as  may  more 
particularly  affect  the  guilt  or  innocence  of  the  Agent,  under 
the  charges  exhibited  against  him  by  the  Governor  of  this 
State,  will  be  gratifying  to  Major-General  Gaines,  you  are 
hereby  authorized  and  empowered,  under  the  authority 
vested  in  you  by  the  Legislature,  to  employ  all  lawful  means 
for  the  furthering  of  the  objects  aforesaid,  avoiding  at  the 
same  time  any  interference  whatever  with  that  Council  in 
matters  disconnected  with  the  objects  of  your  mission, 
and  which  appertain  exclusively  to  interests  and  relations 
purely  political  subsisting  between  the  General  Govern- 
ment and  Indians. 

From  the  Indian  Springs  you  will  proceed  to  attend  the 
other  Council  of  Indians  to  be  holden  at  Broken  Arrow  on 
the  25th  inst.  Your  presence  there  will  be  of  more  impor- 
tance, because  more  immediately  connected  with  the  in- 
vestigation of  the  conduct  of  the  Agent,  as  arraigned  by 
the  Governor,  at  the  instance  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States,  and  by  the  Legislature  of  the  State.  You 
will  no  doubt  be  admitted  to  a  free  participation  of  that 
Council,  and  will  be  suffered  to  take  with  you,  under  suf- 
ficient safeguard,  any  of  the  friendly  chiefs  whose  presence 
there  you  may  consider  necessary  to  the  accomplishment 
of  the  objects  which  the  United  States  and  this  Govern- 
ment have  in  view.  There  can  be  the  less  doubt  of  this, 
because,  the  charges  having  been  already  made  both  by  the 
Executive  and  Legislative  authority  of  Georgia  against  the 
Agent,  and  the  Agent  having  so  far  thought  proper  to  have 
recourse  to  the  Missionaries  and  hostile  Indians  in  the 
Nation,  for  his  defence,  and  that  defence  being  already 
before  the  public,  at  the  instance  of  the  Agent,  in  which 


350  LIKE  W  «EORGE  M.  TROrP.  [CnAP.  XL 

it  would  seem  that  both  being  under  the  control  and 
influence  of  his  office,  any  direction  most  suitable  to  his 
views  may  be  given  to  their  opinions  and  feelings ;  it  is 
only  an  exercise  of  strict  right  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment  of  Georgia  that  it  bo  heard  before  that  Council,  by 
its  Commissioners,  who  are  instructed  to  give  and  receive 
explanations  for  the  purpose,  in  common  with  the  Agents 
of  the  United  States,  of  arriving  at  truth  and  doing  justice 
to  all  parties.  Should  such  participation  be  denied  yon, 
you  will  enter  your  formal  protest  against  that  denial,  and 
proceed  to  avail  yourselves,  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
Georgia,  of  all  the  testimony  you  can  obtain. 
i 

In  reply  to  the  Governor's  letter  of  15th  June,  (copied 
in  the  preceding  chapter,)  G  si.  (iaines  wrote,  the  next 
day,  stating  that  he  had  not  permitted  himself  to  be  "  in- 
fluenced by  any  statements  from  Col.  Crowell,  although 
not  prepared  to  condemn  that  officer  without  a  hearing,''  Arc. 
— that  his  impressions  led  him  "  to  the  conclusion  that  the 
proposed  surveys,  with  the  consequent  influx  of  white  men, 
strangers  to  the  Indians,  during  the  existence  of  feuds 
amongst  them,  would  not  fail  to  fan  the  flame  of  discord," 
&c, ;  expressed  the  ghope  that  the  Governor  would  soon 
hear,  fully  and  satisfactorily,  from  the  proper  department ; 
thanked  him  for  the  promptitude  with  which  he  had  fur- 
nished him  with  information  in  regard  to  the  late  disturb- 
ances on  the  frontier,  and  stated  his  readiness  to  co-operate 
with  him  in  the  discharge  of  his  duties  ;  expressed  the  hope 
that  the  spirit  of  hostility  might  soon  be  restrained  amongst 
the  contending  parties  of  the  Indians ;  but,  as  a  precaution- 
ary measure,  desired  the  Governor  to  furnish,  from  the 
militia  or  volunteers,  one  regiment  of  cavalry,  and  one  of 
infantry,  to  be  held  in  readiness,  &c.,  <fec. 

On  the  same  day,  he  said  he  would  take  an  early  occa- 
sion to  advise  the  Governor  "  of  the  result  of  the  intended 
conferences  with  the  Indians,"  <fec. 

On  the  16th  of  June,  the  Governor  wrote  to  Gen.  Games 
that  he  had  issued  orders  for  the  required  military  force 
&c. ;  and,  on  the  18th,  ho  wrote  him  that  the  Georgia  Com- 
missioners would  acquaint  the  General  with  the  Governor's 


CHAP.  XL]  THE  GOVERNOR  AND  GEN.  GAINES.  351 

instructions  to  them ;  and  expressed  the  hope  that,  "  by  con- 
cert and  co-operation,  such  aids  and  facilities"  might  "  be 
afforded  as  would  be  desirable"  to  Gen.  Gaines,  &c.  The 
letter  concluded : 

From  what  has  occurred,  it  is  highly  important  that  this 
Government  should  be  represented  at  the  Council  to  be  held 
at  Broken  Arrow  on  the  25th.  The  many  inconsistencies  in 
the  conduct  of  the  Indians  to  be  explained  and  reconciled, 
and  their  recent  convocation  by  the  Agent  for  the  purpose 
of  repelling  charges  made  against  him  by  the  Governor  of 
this  State,  at  the  instance  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  make  it  indispensable  for  the  attainment  of  truth 
and  justice,  that  the  Commissioners  should  be  present 
there.  If,  for  this  purpose,  it  should  be  thought  advisable 
to  take  with  them  some  of  the  friendly  Chiefs,  who  are 
deeply  interested  in  vindicating  their  characters  against 
reiterated  attacks  upon  them  by  the  hostile  party,  it  is 
hoped  that  this,  likewise,  will  meet  your  concurrence,  and 
that  they  will  be  placed  under  your  safeguard  and  protec- 
tion. 

In  reply,  Gen.  Gaines  wrote  from  Indian  Springs,  on 
22d  June,  and  said  :  "  I  have  to  observe  that,  however 
much  I  might  be  aided  by  the  experience,  talents  and  in- 
tegrity and  honor  of  the  Commissioners  referred  to  on  the 
part  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  I  do  not  feel  myself  author- 
ized, without  new  instructions  from  the  Department  of  War, 
to  comply  with  the  demand  contained  in  their  letter  of 
yesterday's  date,  '  to  be  admitted  to  a  full  and  free  partici- 
pation of  the  Council  of  Indians,'  "  &c.,  &c. — that  the 
Indians  were  "  still  laboring  under  some  delusion  and  ex- 
citement," which  "  would  be  increased  rather  than  dimin- 
ished by  adding  to  the  number  of  individuals  by  whom 
they  are  to  be  addressed,  or  by  any  addition  or  multiplica- 
tion of  the  matters  of  controversy  to  which  their  attention 
may  be  called" — that  he  was  "  fully  authorized  and  in- 
structed by  the  government  of  the  United  States,  to  protect 
the  friendly  Indians,  to  mitigate  their  calamitous  condition  ;  • 
and,  in  the  event  of  hostilities  having  ceased  on  the  part  of 
the  opposite  party,  to  restore  harmony  bet  ween  them,"  &c., 
&c.,  &c. — that  his  sense  of  the  responsibility  of  the  high 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TR  [CHAP  XI. 

trust  reposed  in  him,  suggested  clearly  the  propriety  of  his 
"having  the  entire  control  of  every  individual  -white  m;m 
allowed  to  address  the  Council,"  and  that  lie  "  should, 
moreover,  have  the  control  of  every  expression  uttered  to 
the  Council  by  any  citizen  or  officer  of  the  United  States'* 
— that,  without  such  control,  confusion  might  ensue  and  the 
benevolent  objects  of  the  government  be  defeated  ;  and 
added:  "To  avert  an  evil  so  pregnant  with  mischievous 
consequences  to  the  Creek  Nation,  to  ihe  peace  and  honor 
of  my  country,  and  to  my  own  reputation,  I  must  decline 
the  demand  of  the  Georgia  (.''immis>ivners  ;"  hut  that,  if 
"instructed  by  the  proper  authority  to  recognize  the  pro- 
posed co-operation  of  the  Georgia  Commissioners/'  he 
would  "  take  great  pleasure  in  serving  with  them  ;''  and 
that  his  whole  duty  as  a  public  officer  was  comprised  in  one 
single  word,  which  suggested  the  propriety  of  the  course 
pursued  by  him  on  that  occasion — "  and  that  word  is  obe- 
dience— obedience  to  the  laws  and  the  orders  of  the  author- 
ities placed  over  me."  In  the  same  letter,  he  stated  that 
hostilities  had  ce  .  i  that  he  had  received  "  satisfac- 

tory assurance  of  an  earnest  desire  on  the  part  of  the  C'i 
of  both  parties  to  remain  at  peace  with  each  other,"  and 
that  it  therefore  became  his  duty  "  to  make  peace  upon  just 
principles,  and  consequently  to  avoid  an  Indian  "War." 

It  is  not  important  to  notice,  particularly,  the  action  of 
the  Georgia  Commissioners,  as  that  will  appear  substanti- 
ally in  the  letters,  &c.,  of  Gov.  Troup,  which  follow ;  and, 
however  desirable  it  might  be,  we  have  no  room  for  their 
correspondence  with  Gen.  Gaines,  Major  Andrews  and  Col. 
Crowell.  On  the  28th  of  June,  the  Governor  notified  the 
Commissioners  that  "  the  dignity  of  Georgia  requires  that 
it_no  longer  continue  to  recognize  him  (Major  Andrews,)  in 
his  official  character  of  Special  Agent." 

Three  of  the  Commissioners,  on  the  20th  June,  addressed 
a  note,  at  the  Indian  Springs,  to  Gen.  Gaines,  in  which  they 
said  :  "  It  is  important  to  the  Commissioners  that  your  an- 
swer to  the  application  of  his  Excellency  the  Governor  to 
admit  the  Commissioners  to  a  full  and  free  participation  of 


CHAP.  XI.]          COMMISSIONERS  AND  COL.  CROWELL. 

the  Council  of  the  Indians,  should  be  received  as  early  as 
practicable."  The  next  clay,  Gen.  Gaines  replied,  declining 
the  application,  his  reasons  for  which  will  appear  in  his 
letter,  of  22d  June,  to  the  Governor.  This  called  forth  a 
second  letter  from  the  Commissioners  to  Gen.  Gaines,  in 
which,  after  stating  the  object  and  importance  of  their  mis- 
sion, and  especially  in  reference  to  the  investigation  of  the 
conduct  of  the  Indian  Agent,  they  said  : 

"To  arrive  at  the  certainty  of  all  these  facts,  in  the  most 
imposing  and  official  manner,  it  was  considered  by  our 
Government  necessary  to  constitute  the  present  mission. 
It  was  further  determined,  by  the  same  Government,  to  be 
of  the  iirst  consequence  that  the  members  of  that  mission 
should  present  themselves,  clothed  in  their  official  charac- 
ter, in  the  Council  of  the  Indians  to  be  convened  by  you ; 
believing  that  in  those  Councils  information  might  be  elic- 
ited material  to  the  points  in  issue  between  the  State  of 
Georgia  and  the  Agent  for  Indian  affairs.  For  this  pur- 
pose and  no  other,  we  have  been  directed  by  our  Govern- 
ment to  repair  to  this  place,  and  to  inform  you  of  the  same, 
and  to  respectfully  ask  your  permission  for  admittance 
therein.  "We  have  done  so  by  request  only  ;  we  have  not 
demanded  it:  that  permission  has  been  denied  us.  We 
therefore,  in  pursuance  of  our  instructions,  as  also  a  proper 
sense  of  duty  towards  our  Government,  do  hereby  enter 
our  formal  protest  against  such  denial,  believing  that,  in 
consequence  of  being  debarred  the  participation  in  those 
Councils,  the  State  of  Georgia  will  unquestionably  be  de- 
prived of  that  which  is  to  her  of  vital  interest  and  great 
magnitude." 

On  the  20th  of  June,  Col.  Crowell  addressed  a  note  to 
the  Commissioners,  offering  them  permission  to  cross-ex- 
amine his  witnesses.  He  added  : 

"  In  giving  you  this  invitation,  I  wish  you  distinctly  to 
understand  that  it  is  not  given  under  the  impression  that  it 
is  your  right — since  I  have  not  been  confronted  with  the 
witnesses  against  me.  But  it  is  given  under  a  full  convic- 
tion of  being  able  fully  to  establish  my  innocence,  by  wit- 
nesses who  shrink  not  from  the  ordeal  of  cross-examination, 
and  to  show  you  that  my  defence  rests  not,  like  the  accusa- 
tions against  me,  upon  the  flimsy  foundation  of  garbled 
evidence,  arbitrarily  taken  and  improperly  reported." 


:i:,[  L1FK  01'  CKoiIfJK  M.  TROIT.  [Cii.vr.  Xi. 

In  accepting  the  invitation,  by  letter  of  L'.'Hh  June,  tlie 
Commissioners  said  : 

"We  shall  be  happy  on  our  part  to  cross-examine  any 
witnesses  you  may  deem  necessary.  On  our  part,  wo 
would  observe,  that  the  (iovernment  of  Georgia  1'ri 
disposition  to  deprive  you  of  any  and  every  means  of  justi- 
fying yourself.  We  have  no  doubt,  that  you  would  have 
been  permitted  to  be  present  and  cross-examine  the  wit- 
nesses before  the  committee  of  the  Legislature,  had  a  request 
been  made,  by  you.  and  we,  have  been  particularly  ins)  rue  ted 
by  his  Kxreilem-ythe,  ( Governor  to  afford  you  that  privih 

( )n  the  iC»th  of  June,  the  Commissioners  sixain  called  the 
attention  of  Gen.  Gaines  to  that  part  »>f  the  (governor's 
instruction  requesting  that  tt  a  free  partici- 

pation of  the  Council  of  the   Indians  to  be  <  1  at 

Broken  Arrow,  and  that  then  lately  held  at  Indian  Spr' 
and  repeated  the  request  to  be  admitted  to  the  Council  at 
the  former  place.     To  li  ( iaines  replied,  in  a  long 

letter  of  20th  June,  declining  the  request.     In  his  letter  he 
said:     "It  a;.  profit  by  the 

of  my  fellow-citizens ;  but  those  *u0^<  >  be  accepta- 

ble to  me,  must  be  free  of  anything  like  ollicial  power  •»• 
control." 

We  copy  the  following  letter  from  the  Commissioners  to 
the  Governor,  dated  Tori  Mitchell,  L^th  June,  ISi:."). 

By  the  return  of  your  express,  we  advised  you  of  our 
movements  up  to  that  date.  Finding  ourselves  completely 
forestalled  in  every  operation  here,  by  the  directions  of 
Gen.  Gaines  and  the  Agent,  we  determined  in  Council  that 
a  part  of  the  mission  should  proceed  forthwith  to  Ala- 
bama.'"" believing  the  testimony  to  be  obtained  in  that 
quarter  more  important  than  any  we  could  collect  here. 
In  furtherance  of  these  views,  Col-.  Jones  and  Torrance  left 
here,  yesterday  evening,  and  will  return  with  all  possible 
dispatch  to  join  us.  The  other  two  members  of  the  mission 
continue  to  occupy  their  situation.  The  Indians  will  pro- 
bably go  into  Council  to-morrow.  As  yet  we  know  noth- 
ing of  the  import  of  their  deliberations,  and  as  yet  we  can 
say  nothing  favorable  of  the  object  of  our  mission. 

*  Fort  Miirlii. !l   ,  :,t  rummi:;  "f  tlio 

Hll  •  livtw,:    11  tin-  I  .' 


CHAP.  XL]        GOV.  TROUP  AND  THE  COMMISSIONERS.  355 

Meanwhile,  the  Governor  kept  up  a  regular  communica- 
on  with  the  Cc 
letters  to  them  : 


tion  with  the  Commissioners.     The  following  is  one  of  his 


EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,          | 
Jfilledgeville,  28£/t  June,  1825.    f 

Gentlemen  :  It  would  be  desirable,  if  you  have  an  op- 
portunity to  do  so,  to  impress  upon  the  Indians  the  inno- 
cence of  the  intention  as  well  as  the  innocence  of  the  act 
of  survey,  on  our  part,  as  their  rights  or  interests  of  any 
kind  can  in  no  manner  be  affected  by  it.  The  measures 
of  the  United  States  will  undoubtedly  have  a  tendency  to 
excite  them  against  us  ;  and  if  the  United  States  should  not 
take  part  with  them  in  resisting  the  survey,  humanity 
would  dictate  the  propriety  of  forewarning  them  of  the 
consequences,  after  placing  them  in  possession  of  the  facts 
and  principles  which  govern  our  conduct. 
Very  respectfully, 

G.    M.  TROUP. 
The  Georgia  Commissioners, 
at  Broken  Arrow. 

Again,  on  the  1st  of  July,  he  wrote  them  : 
"  Perceiving  by  your  peculiar  situation  in  the  Nation, 
that  more  of  efficiency  and  dispatch  may  be  given  to  your 
proceedings,  by  enabling  you  to  detach  members  of  your 
Board  whenever  it  shall  be  deemed  necessary,  you  are 
hereby  further  instructed  to  make  such  detachment  at  dis- 
cretion— provided  that  not  less  than  two  shall  be  competent 
to  proceed  to  business  at  any  particular  place,  whose  report 
shall  in  all  cases  be  made  to  the  Board  for  its  adoption  or 
rejection,  and  that  no  such  proceeding  shall  be  considered 
final  and  conclusive  until  it  has  received  the  sanction  and 
approbation  of  the  Board.'' 

The  following  letters  from  two  of  the  Commissioners, 
deserve  a  place  here.  The  first  gives,  perhaps,  the  earliest 
official  information  which  the  Governor  received  of  an  ex- 
pectation or  attempt  to  abrogate  the  treaty. 

CRABTREE'S,  CREEK  NATION,      ) 
June  30th,  1825.  f 
His  Ex.  Geo.  M.  Troup  : 

Sir :  Difficulties  and  obstructions  having  been  thrown  in 
the  way  of  the  early  fulfilment  of  the  objects  which  called 
us  to  this  place,  we  have  to  request  of  you  to  detain  any 


356  LIFE  OF  GEORGK  M.  Tl;  p.  XI. 

witness  or  witnesses  wli<>  ma; 

linatiou,  until   our   urrival.     Th.  the 

Nation  have,  for  some  time  ]>..-  :ded  with  tie 

ition,  nay,  almost  c  the 

treaty.     We    ha\v   -Teat  pie- 
ccllency,  that   General   Gaines  took   occ 
wliile  in  council,  to  state  distinctly  such  a 

:t  such  an  occurrence  w;>-  -.vn  in  t 

dipl 

to    the   treaty,  and  the  p  :ent. 

AVe  take  occasion  to  assure  ; 

'•K-ration  and  re-pcct. 

His  K.\.  Qeo.  M.  Tr -up  : 

:      We  '  pt  of 

your  several  en«' 

In  conformity  with  your  v.-i 
drafted,  expr 

of  the   country  forthwith,  a<- 
treaty  concluded  at  the  Indi 
had,   from   the  heirinnin^  t •>   the 
thority  of  Georgia  to  an  interfer 
and   important   trust  confided  to  him.' 
spectful  to  submit  it  to  his  examination  and  decision  1,. 
we  proposed  it  to  the  Council.     We  had  the  mortification 
to    receive,  in  this  ;^  \vell  as  in   every  oth'  '.tion 

which  was  calculated  to  facilitate  the  objects  of  our  mi 
and  to  elicit  truth,  the  continued  and  reiterated  declar;> 
"  it  will  conflict  with  our  instructions,  it  is  th  :iad- 

mi-sihle."     AVe  have  accomplished  but  little  ;  our  wa\ 
been  obstructed  and    hedged    in  on  all  sides.     AV"e  have 
been  engaged  indefati^ahly  to  promote  the  well-beii 

-late  we  have  the  honor  ; 

Our  labors  have  been  unsuccessful  and  inori'  >   an 

extent  unknown   in  the  history  of  diplomacy.  "tall 

hear  from  us  in  detail  at  a  proper  time. 

Your  Ivxcellonc  '    obliged  and  humble  servai;' 

WAIUMIN   >}• 

AV.     W.     AVlLLIAM^OX, 

amissioners. 


CHAP.  XI.]  GOV.  TROUP  AND  GEN.  GAINES.  357 

It  is  now  time  to  return  to  Gen.  Gaines.  On  the  1st  of 
July,  he  wrote  to  the  Governor: 

I  had  promised  myself  the  pleasure  of  sending  you  a  de- 
tailed account  of  my  conference  with  the  Indian  Council 
at  this  place,  by  this  day's  mail ;  but  the  mail  is  on  the 
point  of  closing,  and  my  account  is  not  ready.  I  have, 
therefore,  only  to  say  that  the  Council  here  promise  to  be 
peaceable,  and  to  settle  their  differences  with  the  friends 
and  followers  of  General  Mclntosh  upon  just  principles. 

They  protest  against  the  treaty. 

They  refuse  to  receive  any  part  of  the  consideration 
money,  or  to  give  any  other  evidence  of  their  acquiescence 
in  the  treaty.  But  they  have,  in  the  strongest  terms,  de- 
liberately declared  that  they  will  not  raise  an  arm  against 
the  United  States,  even  should  an  army  come  to  take  from 
them  the  whole  of  their  country ;  that  they  will  make  no 
sort  of  resistance  ;  but  will  sit  down  quietly  and  be  put  to 
death  where  the  bones  of  their  ancestors  are  deposited ; 
that  the  world  shall  know  that  the  Muscogee  nation  so  loved 
their  country  that  they  were  willing  to  die  in  it,  rather 
than  sell  it  or  leave  it.  This  was  their  mode  of  expression, 
as  interpreted  in  presence  of  Ben  Hawkins,  and  several 
other  interpreters,  who  were  instructed  to  state  whether  or 
not  the  public  interpreter  did  his  duty. 

The  Council,  fully  attended,  has  thus  appealed  to  our 
magnanimity ;  an  appeal  which  never  can  be  unavailing 
when  addressed  to  citizens  of  the  United  States. 

The  Governor  replied,  as  follows : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,      ) 
Milledgevitte,  AdhJuly,  1825.  j" 

Sir  :  I  had  the  honor  to  receive  your  letter,  of  the  first 
instant,  this  morning,  for  which  be  pleased  to  accept  my 
thanks. 

How  does  the  obstinate  refusal  to  remove  consist  with  the 
universal  consent  given  at  one  time  to  the  treaty  at  the  In- 
dian Springs,  with  the  exception  of  the  Tookaubatchees,  or 
with  the  report  made  by  Hambly  to  Col.  Williamson,  that 
he  had  the  yea  or  nay  in  the  matter,  and  by  the  authority  of 
these  same  people,  or  the  placid  content  and  good  feeling 
for  Mclntosh,  manifested  in  their  talk  to  Col.  Laniar  ?  &c., 
&c.  I  much  fear  this  ardent  love  of  country  is  of  re- 
cent origin ;  we  can  scarcely  believe  that  the  amor  patrice 
is  all  upon  the  one  side,  and  that  side  the  hostile  one.  Will 


358  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

you  not  be  able  to  discover,  in  the  course  of  your  investi- 
gation, that  everything  had  been  said  and  done  by  white 
men  to  prejudice  them  against  their  new  home  ?  It  is,  in- 
deed, a  pity  that  these  unfortunate  men  should  be  the  dupes 
of  the  most  depraved  of  onr  own  color,  and  so  far  the  dupes 
•  be  made  to  act  in  direct  repugnance  to  their  own  best 
interests  ;  it  is  more  to  be  lamented  that  the  impostors  and 
knaves  cannot  be  dragged  from  their  hiding  places  and 
punished.  Presupposing  these  unhappy  people  to  continue 
blind  and  obdurate,  the  utmost  which  your  government  can 
do,  in  the  spirit  of  magnanimity  and  forbearance,  will  be 
to  relinquish  the  benefit  which  would  result  to  it  from  the 
execution  of  the  treaty,  and  guaranty  to  them,  for  their 
permanent  home,  the  lands  west  of  the  Georgia  line.  If 
the  Cherokees  continue  to  conduct  themselves  in  like  tem- 
per, the  like  provision  may  be  made  for  them.  But  how 
will  this  accord  with  the  recent  policy  adopted  by  the 
United  States,  or  with  the  substantial  and  lasting  interests 
of  the  Indians  '.  In  every  estimate  of  humanity,  it  would 
be  better  that  this  deceitful  charm,  by  which  they  are 
bound,  should  be  broken  and  dispelled  :  that,  after  adjust- 
ment and  reconciliation  of  differences,  the  entire  body 
should  move  without  sorrow  to  tiie  country  alloted  to  them. 
I  am  persuaded  that  no  efforts  of  yours  will  be  unessayed 
to  accomplish  this  most  desirable  and  holy  end  ;  holy,  I 
say,  because  it  is  the  only  one  which  can  consist  with  their 
peace,  safety  and  happiness.  Pardon  me  for  throwing  out 
these  hasty  and  desultory  reflections  ;  they  have  no  doubt 
already  presented  themselves  to  your  own  mind. 

Presuming  that  the  followers  of  Mclntosh,  who  almost 
exclusively  occupy  the  Georgia  lands,  will  remove  ;  and 
that,  in  their  present  unsettled  condition,  it  would  be  very 
desirable  to  them  to  do  so,  whilst  it  would  save  the 
United  States  the  expense  of  their  maintenance  and  sup- 
port here,  I  would  feel  myself  obliged,  if,  consistently 
with  your  duty,  you  would  give  every  encouragement  to 
such  dispositions. 

With  great  consideration  and  respect. 

G.  if.  TROVP. 
Edmund  P.  Gaines, 

Major-General  Coin'g, 
Fort  Mitchell. 

On  the  10 th  of  July,  Gen.  Gaines  wrote  to  the  Gover- 
nor, apologizing  for  not  having  written  as  often  or  as  fully 


CHAP.  Xl.]  GEN.  GAINES  TO  THE  GOVERNOR.  359 

as  he  had  been  desirous  of  doing,  in  consequence  of  "  the 
excessive  heat  of  the  weather,"  and  "  many  inconveniences 
and  interruptions,"  &c.  He  then  proceeded  to  communi- 
cate the  result  of  his  conferences  with  the  Creeks — that  he 
had  met  the  Chiefs  of  the  Mclntosh  party,  heard  their  re- 
spective statements,  with  the  evidence  for  and  against  each 
party,  and  urged  an  adjustment  of  differences,  to  which 
they  had  mutually  assented ;  that  the  Mclntosh  party  de- 
manded retaliation  for  their  fallen  Chiefs,  and  the  immedi- 
ate restoration  of  their  property  taken  or  destroyed,  &c., 
&c.  He  added  :  "  The  reputed  hostile  party  consists  of 
all  the  principal  Chiefs,  and- of  nearly  forty-nine  fiftieths 
of  the  whole  of  the  Chiefs,  Head-men  and  Warriors  of 
the  Nation  :  among  whom  I  recognize  many  who  were 
in  our  service  during  the  late  war,  and  who,  to  my  certain 
knowledge,  have  been  for  twenty  years  past,  (and  I  think 
they  have  been  at  all  times,)  friendly  to  the  United  States 
as  any  of  our  Indian  neighbors  could  have  been  known  to 
be.  I  met  them  at  Broken  Arrow,  the  usual  place  of  hold- 
ing the  great  Council  of  the  Nation  :  I  could  not,  therefore, 
but  view  the  supposed  hostile  party  as  in  fact  and  in  truth 
the  Creek  Nation,  and  altogether  free  of  the  spirit  of  hos- 
tility ascribed  to  them" — that  lie  had  "received  from  them, 
in  Council  assembled,  the  most  deliberate  assurance  of 
their  determination  to  be  peaceable  and  friendly  towards 
their  absent  people,  as  well  as  towards  the  United 
States.  They  regretted  the  necessity  which,  they  contend, 
existed  for  the  strong  measures  they  adopted  against  Gen. 
Mclntosh,  and  others,  who,  they  affirm,  forfeited  and  lost 
their  lives  by  having  violated  a  well  known  law  of  the 
Nation  ;"  that  they  had  "  engaged  to  restore  all  property 
taken,  and  to  pay  for  all  that  has  been  destroyed  contrary 
to  law,"  &c. — that  "  the  Council  strongly  and  unanimously 
objected  to  the  late  treaty,  as  the  offspring  of  fraud,  entered 
into  contrary  to  the  known  law  and  determined  will  of  the 
nation,  and  by  persons  not  authorized  to  treat;"  that  they 
refused  "  to  receive  any  part  of  the  consideration  money 
due  under  the  treaty,  or  to  give  any  other  evidence  of  their 


360  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  T!l  [('MAP  XI. 

acquiescence  in  it'1 — that  they  had  "  expressed  the  hope  that 
their  white  friends  would  pity  their  deplorable  condition, 
and  would  do  them  the  justice  to  reconsider  and  '  undo  that 
which  has  been  wrongfully  done' " — that  he  had  endeav- 
ored, without  success,  to  convince  them  "of  the  fallacy  of 
their  objections  to  the  treaty,  and  to  dissipate  their  delusive 
hopes  that  it  can  ever  be  annulled,"  &c.,  &c.  The  letter 
stated  that  there  would  be  no  occasion  for  the  militia  or 
volunteers  of  the  State,  and  concluded  thus  : 

"  The  certificate,  of  which  I  enclose  herewith  a  copy, 
marked  A,  added  to  the  declarations  of  the  Chiefs  in  Coun- 
cil, of  whom  Joseph  Marshall,  was  principal  and  Interpre- 
ter, proves  that  your  Excellency  has  been  Deceived 
in  supposing  that  the  Mclntosh  party  ever  consented  to  the 
survey  of  the  ceded  territory  being  commenced  before  the 
time  set  forth  in  the  treaty  for  their  removal.     This 
giving  altogether  a  new  aspect  to  the  subject  of  the 
posed  survey  of  the  land,  added  to  a  strong  conviction  on 
my  mind  that  the  attempt  to  make  the  sir. 
positive  violation  of  the  treaty,  and  will,  under  cxi-ting 
causes  of  excitement,  be  certain  to  produce  acts  of  vioi< 
upon  the  persons  or  property  of  unoffending  Indians  whom 
we  are  bound  to  protect,  it  becomes  my  duty  1o  re 
strato  against  the  surveys  being  commenced  until  the  Indi- 
ans shall  have  removed,  agreeably  to  the  treaty.     I  cannot 
doubt  that  the  facts  disclosed  by  the  accompanying  certifi- 
cate,  with   the   concurrent    testimony   of    the   Chiefs;    in 
Council,  to  which  I  have  adverted,  will  induce  your  Ex- 
cellency,  without  hesitation,   to   abandon  the  projer 
surveying  the  land  before  the  month  of  September,  iMM. 
This  would  be  particularly  gratifying  to  me,  as  i!  would 
relieve  me  of  the  painful  duty  of  acting,  not  in  concert 
with  the  venerated  authorities  of  an  enlightened  and  pat- 
riotic member   of  the  United   States,   to   whom    I  stand 
pledged,  by  every  principle  of  honor,  under  the  solemnity 
of  an  oath,  to  serve  them  honestly  and  faithfully." 

The  following  is  the  certificate  referred  to  by  Gen. 
Gaines : 

AVe  certify  that  we  accompanied  the  express  from  Gov- 
ernor Troup  to  Gen.  Mclntosh,  conveying  the  request  that 
he  would  allow  the  survey  of  the  land  acquired  by  the 
treaty  at  the  Indian  Springs,vto  be  immediately  commenced. 


CHAP.  XI.]  GOVERNOR  TO  GEN.  GAINES.  361 

Gen.  Mclntosh  replied  that  he  could  not  grant  the  request, 
but  would  call  the  Chiefs  together,  and  lay  it  before  them 
— which  was  never  done. 

WM.   EDWARDS. 

JOSEPH  MARSHALL. 
At  Portess,  Upson  Co.,  July  9,  1825. 

I  certify  that  this  is  a  correct  copy  of  the  original  certifi- 
cate signed  in  my  presence. 

E.  G.  W.  BUTLER, 
Aid-de-Camp. 

The  following  is  Governor  Troup's  reply : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  ) 
Milledgevitte,  July  I6th,  1825.      f 

Sir :  I  have  only  a  moment  left  to  say  one  word  in 
answer  to  that  part  of  your  letter  I  had  the  honor  to  re- 
ceive yesterday,  which  relates  to  the  assent  given  by 
Mclntosh  to  the  survey  of  the  country.  The  certificate  of 
Marshall,  no  matter  how  procured,  is  one  of  the  most 
daring  efforts  that  ever  was  attempted  by  malignant  vil- 
lainy to  palm  a  falsehood  upon  credulity.  Now,  Sir,  that 
you  may  be  at  once  undeceived  with  regard  to  this  trick, 
which  has  been  played  off'  by  somebody,  I  have  to  assure 
you  that,  independently  of  the  assent  three  times  given  by 
Mclntosh,  under  his  own  hand,  which  I  have  in  my  posses- 
sion, this  same  man,  Marshall,  has  repeatedly  declared  to 
me,  that  there  was  not  a  dissentient  voice  from  the  survey, 
among  the  friendly  chiefs.  All  the  chiefs  I  have  seen, 
have  uniformly  declared  the  same ;  and  so  they  have  de- 
clared to  others,  both  in  and  out  of  council ;  and  for  this 
you  have  my  word  of  honor,  and  may  have  my  oath.  I 
very  well  know,  from  the  late  events  which  have  transpired 
under  the  eyes  of  the  Commissioners,  that  the  oath  even 
of  a  Governor  of  Georgia  may  be  permitted  to  pass  for 
nothing,  and  that  any  vagabond  of  the  Indian  country  may 
be  put  in  requisition  to  discredit  him.  But  I  assure  you, 
Sir,  if  that  oath  should  not  weigh  one  feather  with  your 
Government,  it  will  weigh  with  the  people  of  this  State, 
who,  so  far  as  I  have  a  knowledge  of  their  history,  have 
never  refused  credence  to  the  word  of  their  Chief  Magis- 
trate, and  I  believe  will  not  to  the  present  one,  unworthy  as 
he  may  be.  Permit  me  to  say,  in  frankness,  that  I  do  not  like 
the  complexion  of  things,  at  all,  as  disclosed  by  the  Com- 
missioners on  the  part  of  the  State,  and  sincerely  hope  that 
you  may  never*  have  cause  to  regret  the  part  you  have 
46 


362  LIFE  OF  GEORGE    M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

taken  in  them.  Every  prepossession  here  was  in  your 
favor,  and  it  would  have  given  me  great  pleasure  to  cherish 
it  in  behalf  of  an  officer  who  had  rendered  signal  ser- 
vice to  his  country  through  many  a  perilous  and  trying 
scene. 

Very  respectfully, 
Your  obed't  serv't, 

G.  M.  TROIT. 
Edmund  P.  Gaines, 

Major-Gen.  Commanding,  Indian  Springs. 

To  this  letter,  Gen.  Gaines  wrote  the  following  as  a 
reply;  but  which  he  caused  to  be  published  in  a  Milledge- 
ville  paper,  instead  of  sending  it  by  mail,  or  private  hand, 
to  the  Governor.  It  is  published  here,  in  full,  not  as  a 
specimen  of  eloquent  composition  or  of  polite  diplomatic 
style,  but  that  the  reader  may  form  a  tolerable  judgment 
of  me  propriety  of  the  Governor's  suspending,  as  he  had 
done  in  the  case  of  Major  Andrews,  all  further  official  in- 
tercourse with  the  "  Major-General,  Commanding." 

HEAD-QUARTKKS  Eastern  Department,  ) 
Indian  >/;/•//><•/*;  -s//'  -^"//A  1825.      j 

Sir:  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  honor  of  your  Excel- 
lency's letter  of  the  17th  of  this  month,  by  which  it  ap- 
pears that  you  had  "  only  a  moment  to  say  one  word,"  in 
answer  to  mine  of  the  10th.  Your  one  word,  comprehend- 
ing, however,  two  pretty  closely  written  pages,  coming  as  it 
does  from  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  an  enlightened  and  pat- 
riotic member  of  the  United  States,  demands  my  attention. 

Not  being  disposed,  however,  to  follow  your  exampl- 
to  time,  I  have  permitted  your  letter  to  lie  on  my  table  for 
a  week  past,  in  the  expectation  that  a  little  reflection 
would  suggest  to  you  the  propriety  of  correcting  some 
expressions  apparently  hasty,  and  calculated  to  call  forth 
an  answer  partaking  of  the  climate  and  heated  atmosphere 
in  which  I  find  myself:  against  which  it  has  been  my  con- 
stant purpose  to  guard  ;  but  your  letter  having  made  its 
appearance  in  a  newspaper  just  now  handed  to  me  by  a 
friend,  I  can  no  longer  see  the  propriety  of  withholding  a 
reply.  You  say,  "the  certificate  of  Marshall,  no  matter 
how  procured,  is  one  of  the  most  daring  efforts  that  ever 
was  attempted  by  malignant  villainy  to  palm  a  falsehood 
on  ignorant  credulity." — "  No  matter  how  procure* I  !  " 


CHAP.  XL]  GENERAL  GAINES'  LETTER.  363 

I  will  first  state  to  you  the  manner  in  which  that  fright- 
ful certificate  was  "  procured,"  and  then  proceed  to  show 
that  its  "  daring"  character  consists  in  its  truth,  and  its  di- 
rect tendency  to  expose  in  part  the  "  malignant  villainy" 
'  which  has  been  extensively  practiced  on  the  credulity  of 
many  of  the  good  citizens  of  Georgia,  and  other  States,  in 
reference  to  the  Indians  and  the  treaty.  The  facts  con- 
tained in  the  certificate  in  question,  were  voluntarily,  and, 
to  me,  unexpectedly  communicated  by  Mr.  William  Ed- 
wards and  Joseph  Marshall,  whose  signatures  it  bears. 

Of  the  character  of  "William  Edwards,  who  is  a  citizen 
of  this  State,  I  have  had  no  means  of  knowing  much  person- 
ally. He  has  been  represented  to  me  by  Col.  Brodnax,  of 
Pike,  and  by  Col.  Phillips,  of  this  county,  as  a  man  of 
truth — poor,  but  honest  and  upright ;  a  description  of  char- 
acter applicable  to  a  large  class  of  the  inhabitants  of  this 
and  other  parts  of  our  western  border,  in  whom  I  have 
usually  found  as  much  devotion  to  truth,  as  in  any  other 
class  of  American  citizens. 

Joseph  Marshall  is  personally  better  known  to  me.  He 
is  a  Creek  half-breed,  and  is  deemed  to  be  a  good  interpre- 
ter ;  and  however  deficient,  as  I  know  he  is,  in  education, 
and  refined  moral  sentiments  such  as  have  obtained  the 
sanction  of  civilized  society,  I  have  no  doubt  that  he  is  one 
of  the  most  upright  Chiefs  that  ever  belonged  to  the  little 
treaty-making  party.  Neither  of  these  men,  Edwards  or 
Marshall,  appeared  to  me  at  all  qualified  for  what  you 
denounce  their  certificate  to  be,  "  the  most  daring  effort 
that  ever  was  attempted  by  malignant  villainy." 

Their  statements  were  simple  and  apparently  un- 
prejudiced and  unimpassioned ;  they  were  made  after 
the  principal  business  of  the  council  had  been  brought  to 
a  close,  and  in  the  presence  of  many  of  the  respectable  citi- 
zens of  Pike  county. 

Convinced  of  the  propriety  of  all  my  duties  with  the 
Indians  being  performed  in  open  day,  and  in  the  presence 
of  as  many  as  would  attend,  of  all  states  and  all  colors,  I 
took  care  that  the  certificate  should  be  taken  and  explained 
in  presence  of  the  council,  and  of  all  others  who  had  seen 
fit  to  attend. 

I  had  no  secret  project  to  promote,  nor  any  "secret 
griefs"  to  remedy,  or  secret  hopes  to  gratify ;  and  conse- 
quently had  no  occasion  for  separating  the  Chiefs,  or  for 
secret  examination.  The  certificate  was  written  as  it  was 
dictated,  as  I  believe  word  for  word,  by  my  Aid-de-Camp, 
Lieut.  E.  George  Washington  Butler,  a  young  officer  of  ac- 


364  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TRO'  [Ciur.  XI. 

complished  military  education  tind  talents — with  unbend- 
ing  integrity  am!  honor  ;  and  wh-  /able 

of  giving  countenance  to  a  trick  or 
was  the  beloved  Father  of  his  country,  with  wh 
lie  is  honored,  and  !   virtue  he  con- 

stantly scrupulously  imitates.      Having  thus  explain* 
you  the  means  employed    to    obtain     the    certificate 
question,  for  which  I  hold  myself  :i>le,  I  have  now 

to  remark  that,  although  I  ha  ^taiiied  a  <louM 

that  you  were  deceived  into  a  belief  tli:r 
had  consulted  tho  few  Chiefs  of  his  party,  and  had  obtained 
their  assent  in  Council  to  the  imin 
ceded  hind  ;  yet  I  have  found  M 
such  Council,  consisting  of  tin  i'  the  ceded  ; 

having  ever  acted  at  all  ;.  -ubject.     Audi: 

ent  i:  Intosh'sl 

will  ofler  no  apology  for  making  use  of  your  Kxcellc: 
pregnant  phrase,)  or  by  whom  written,  that  he  himself  con- 
sidered the  permission  to  survey  us  merely  conditional.     J>ut 
I  contend  that  neither  <  !i    nor  1 .'. 

,/i'  had  any    right  to    give   such   permi>sion  :    for    the 
treaty,   "no  matter  ho\v  procured,"  had  become  a  /•• 
the  land:  its  provisions  could  not  therefore  be  ch;. 
rendered  inoperative  by  any  correspondence,  or 
(juent  agreement  between  your  Excellency  and  any  part  or 
the  whole  of  the  individuals  of  one   of  the  contni 
parties,  without  the  consent  of  the  other. 

The  treaty  makes  it  our  duty   to  protect  the   Ind; 
against  the  whites  and  all  others  ;  to  protect  them  from  the 
whites,  it  is  necessary  and  proper  that  we  should  maintain 
the  usual  line  of  demarkation  between  them  and  the  whites. 

I  am  charged  with  their  protection. 

To  accomplish  this  important  duty,  my   tir>t  object  has 
been  to  take  effectual  measures  to  prerent  all  interc< 
between  them  and  the  whites,  excepting  only  such  ; 
sanctioned  by  the  laws  of  the  United 

You  say,  "I  very  well  know  that  from  the  late  ev, 
which  have  transpired  under  the  eyes  of  the  Commission- 
ers of  Georgia,  that  the  oath  of  a  Governor  of  Georgia  may 
be  permitted  to  pass  for  nothing,  and  that  any  vagabond  of 
the  Indian  country  may  be  put.  in  ret[ui>ition  t!(  discredit 
him;  but  I  assure"  you,'  sir,  if  that  oath  should  not  weigh 
a  single  feather  with  your  government,  it  will  weigh  with 
the  people  of  this  State,  who,  so  far  as  I  have  a  knowledge 
of  their  history,  have  never  yet  refused  credence  to  the 
word  of  their  Chief  Magistrate."  To  this  apparently  very 


CHAP.  XI.]  GEN.  GAINES'  LETTER  CONTINUED.  365 

serious,  but  certainly  very  vague,  charge,  I  cannot  under- 
take to  reply,  until  you  do  me  the  favor  to  give  me  some  spe- 
cifications of  the  matters  of  fact  to  which  you  have  referred. 

I  will,  however,  take  this  occasion  to  remark,  that  what- 
ever statements  you  may  have  received  in  support  of  the 
insinuation  apparently  contained  in  your  letter,  that  I  have 
called  in  question,  or  even  put  any  person  in  requisition  to 
call  in  question,  the  oath  or  the  word  of  a  Governor  of 
"Georgia,  during  his  continuance  in  office,  is  wholly  desti- 
tute of  truth.  I  have,  indeed,  believed,  and  have  expressed 
to  you  my  belief,  that  you  have  been  greatly  deceived  by 
persons  in  who^e  honor  you  have  placed  reliance,  but  who 
were  unworthy  of  your  confidence. 

But  I  am  by  no  means  disposed  to  yield  my  tacit  assent 
to  the  high-toned  rule  of  English  law,  which  your  remarks 
just  now  quoted  call  to  mind,  that  "  the  King  can  do  no 
wrong."  Truth  is  a  divine  attribute,  and  the  foundation  of 
every  virtue.  "  Truth  is  the  basis  of  all  excellence."  This 
inestimable  moral  treasure,  truth,  is  to  be  found  in  the  cot- 
tage as  well  as  in  the  palace,  at  the  plough  as  well  as  at 
the  official  bureau  of  state. 

Many  of  the  unfortunate  wanderers  of  the  wilderness 
and  its  borders,  are  as  firm  votaries  of  truth  as  any  men  I 
have  ever  known.  Some  of  them,  who  have  been  unfortu- 
nate in  business,  and  whose  regard  to  truth  and  honesty 
induce  them  to  give  up  the  last  dollar  justly  due  to  their 
creditors,  had  they  regarded  money  a  little  more,  and  truth 
a  little  less,  might  have  failed  /ull  handed ;  and  now,  in- 
stead of  being  reduced  to  the  condition  of  despised  poverty, 
would  wanton  in  the  luxuries  of  plundered  wealth.  It  is 
no  longer  possible,  in  America,  to  make  freemen  believe 
that  "  the  King,  (or  he  who  governs,)  can  do  no  wrong." 

The  enlightened  citizens  of  the  Republic,  having  long, 
since  found  it  to  be  fruitless  to  look  for  angels  in  the  form 
of  men  to  govern  them,  know  full  well  how  to  discriminate 
between  the  high  office  and  the  man  who  fills  it. 

Your  Excellency  will,  I  doubt  not,  always  receive  a  de- 
gree of  respect,  proportioned,  at  least,  to  that  which  you 
are  wont  to  bestow  on  other  men  in  office ;  more  than  this 
could  not  be  expected;  less  than  this  would  not  be  just. 
That  a  great  number  of  the  citizens  of  Georgia  are  mag- 
nanimous, just,  generous  and  chivalric,  I  well  know;  and 
that  they  are  disposed  to  do  justice  to  their  Chief  Magis- 
trate, I  am  equally  convinced  ;  nor  can  I  doubt  that  they 
will  do  equal  justice  to  their  United  States ,  as  well  as  their 
State,  officers. 

• 


36G  LIFE  OF  KMW;*'  x-  TROUP.  [t'H.vr.  xi. 

I  rely  upon  the  wisdom  and  justice  and  patriotism  of  at 
least  nine-tenths  of  those  with  whom  I  have  the  pleasure  of 
an  acquaintance,  many  of  whom  ftre  cultivators  01  the  land; 
t«»  which  class,  in  this  and  every  other  State  in  the  Kepub- 
lic,  I  look  np  with  coniident  pleasure  and  pride,  as  they 
form  the  adamantine  pillars  of  the  fninn  ;  against  which 
the  angry  vaporing  paper  squibs  of  the  ////A  and  the  nrmt. 
••f  all  countries,  may  continue  to  he  hurled  for 
hundreds  of  centuries,  without  endangering  the  noble  cdi-» 
fice.  This  beloved  monument  <>!'  American  wisdom  and 
valor  and  virtue,  will  stand  unshaken,  when  the  disturbers 
of  its  infantile  repose  will  he  remembered  to  be  pitied  or 
execrated. 

The   good  people  of    <  .1    am    well    aware,  are 

anxious  to  obtaii.  ••  land  upon  their  western 

border;  but  they  would  abhor  the  idea  of  fraudulent  or 
lawless  means  being  resorted  to,  to  treat  for,  or,  after  treat- 
ing, to  obtain  pos-er-sioH  of  it  before  the  time  authorized 
by  treaty.  And  I  am  well  convinced  that  the  President 
of  the  Tinted  States  is  as  sincerely  desirous  as  any  upright 
citizen  of  Georgia  can  be,  that  the  Indian  claims  to  the 
lands  within  her  limii.<  should  be  speedily  extinguished, 
and  that  the  Indians  should  remove  therefrom  as  soon  as 
they  can  justly  be  required  to  remo\c:  but  he  owes  them 
protc'-iinji  ar  .  and  both  will  be  extended  to  them. 

It  is  not  to  be  denied  that  there  is  in  G»  well  as 

every  other  State,  a  small  class  of  men,  who,  like  the 
"  Hohj  Alliance"  profess  to  employ  themselves  in  the 
laudable  work  of  enlightening  and  governing  all  other 
•c.s  of  the  community,  but  whose  labors  consist  of  the 
vain  and  ki  darim  "  to  prove  the  light  of  truth  is  to 

be  found  only  with  the  party  to  which  they  themselves  re- 
spectively belong,  and  that  all  others  go  wrong.  If  you 
'will  take  the  trouble  to  read  the  newspaper  essays  with 
which  the  presses  have  been  teeming  for  seme  years  past, 
you  will  rind  that  many  of  the  essayists  have  had  the  hard- 
ihood to  "refuse  credence  to  the  word  of  their  Chief 
Magistrate,"  and  yet  we  have  no  reason  to  despair  of  the 
Republic. 

You  say,  "  I  do  not  like  the  complexion  of  things  at  all 
as  disclosed  by  the  Commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  State, 
and  sincerely  hope  (you  add)  that  you  may  never  have 
cause  to  regret  the  part  you  have  taken  in  them."  1'ermit 
me  then,  Sir,  to  conclude  with  a  sincere  hope  that  the 
Commissioners,  with  whose  report  1  am  thus  menaced,  may 
prove  by  their  conduct  that  they  belong  not  to  the  afore- 


CHAP.  XL]  GOVERNOR  AND  GEN.   GAINES.  367 

mentioned  one-sided  enlightening  class ;  should  their  report 
be  found  to  contain  the  truth,  the  whole  truth,  and  nothing 
but  the  truth,  your  Excellency  may  dismiss  your  apprehen- 
sions, felt  on  my  account,  as  I  have  nothing  to  apprehend. 
But  if  their  report  is  not  true,  I  can  say  only  that  the 
tongue  and  the  pen  of  calumny  can  never  move  me  from 
the  path  of  duty,  nor  ever  make  me  regret  the  course  pur- 
sued by  me  in  respect  to  the  Indians,  or  the  Commissioners, 
the  State  or  the  United  States. 

In  tendering  to  your  Excellency  my  acknowledgements 
for  the  prepossession  in  my  favc>r,  of  which  you  speak,  and 
which  you  say  would  have  given  you  "pleasure  to  cherish 
in  behalf  of  an  officer  who  had  rendered  signal  services 
to  his  country,"  permit  me  to  observe  that  the  approbation 
of  my  countrymen  is  more  dear  to  me  than  any  earthly 
treasure  they  could  bestow,  save  that  of  an  assured  devo- 
tion to  the  Republic :  if,  indeed,  it  be  in  my  power  to  win 
that  approbation  by  a  faithful  discharge  of  my  duty  as  a 
public  officer,  and  as  an  honest  man,  I  have  long  en- 
deavored thus  to  win  it.  My  best  efforts  are  constantly 
exerted  to  ascertain  the  direct  and  proper  course  of  duty 
prescribed  by  law  and  justice  and  honor,  and  to  pursue 
that  course  without  any  regard  to  consequences.  But  I 
have  seen,  of  late,  with  regret,  that  it  is  scarcely  possible 
for  an  officer  of  the  General  Government  to  differ  with 
you  in  opinion,  without  incurring  your  uncourteous  animad- 
version or  your  acrimonious  censure  ;  neither  of  which 
shall  ever  induce  me  to  forget  what  is  due  to  myself  or  the 
venerated  station  you  till,  and  the  relation  in  which  you 
stand  to  the  General  Government,  in  whose  service  I  have 
the  honor  to  be  placed. 

"Wishing  you  health  and  respect, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 

EDMUND  P.  GAINES, 

Major-Gen.  Com'g. 
To  his  Excellency 

George  M.  Troup, 
Governor  of  Georgia. 

The  following  from  the  Governor  explains  itself: 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
Milledgemlle,  6th  Aug.,  1825. 
Sir :     A  letter,  purporting  to  be  yours,  which  appeared 
in  the  last  Georgia  Journal,  and  having  every  characteris- 
tic of  an  official  one,  could  not  fail  to  attract  my  attention. 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Cn.vp.  XI. 

Immediately,  therefore,  on  my  return  to  this  place,  inquiry 
was  made,  at  the  Department,  for  the  original,  and  I.  learned, 
with  surprise,  that  none  such  hud  been  received.  The  prop- 
er means  wore  then  resorted  to,  to  ascertain  the  authentic- 
ity of  the  puhlished  letter,  and.  having  been  satisfied  that 
the  same  was  in  your  proper  handwriting,  I  have  lost  no 
time  to  direct  yon  to  forbear  further  intercourse  with  this 
Government.  Having  thought  proper  to  make  representa- 
tions of  your  conduct  to  the  1 'resident,  I  have  ordered  you 
to  be  i'lirni.-hcd  with  a  copy  of  every  letter  written  on  your 
subject,  and  which  will  reach  you  in  due  time.  Any  com- 
munication proceeding  from  the  officer  next  in  command  in 
this  military  department,  will  be  received  and  attended 
to. 

G.  M.  Tuori'. 
E.   P.  Gaines, 

Major-Gen.  Commanding,  Indian  Spr: 

The  next  day,  Governor  Troup  addressed  the  following 
communication  to  the  President  of  the  United  States  : 

Ivxivrnvi:  .1  )!-:r.' 
'UedgevtiU)  T/A  Any., 

Sir:  The  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  War.  i.f  the  18th 
May,  introducing  to  this  Government  Major-Genera!  <  iaincs 
and  Major  Andrews,  as  Agents  of  the  I'nited  States  to 
inquire  into  the  causes  of  the  late  disturbances,  to  adjust 
the  differences  subsisting  between  the  Indians,  and  to'  in- 
quire into  the  conduct  of  the  Agent  of  Indian  affairs, 
recommended  them  as  officers  distinguished  lor  ability, 
prudence  and  discretion.  They  were  received  and  treated 
accordingly.  With  the  conduct  of  the  one  you  have  been 
already  made  acquainted  :  with  that  of  the  other  it  remains 
for  me  to  place  yon  in  possession. 

In  the  several  conferences  held  with  General  Gaines,  on 
his  first  arrival,  I  received  repeated  assurances  from  him  of 
friendly  dispositions;  of  upright  intentions;  of  freedom 
from  all  kinds  of  bias  or  prejudice  which  could  mislead 
his  judgment,  or  influence  his  decisions,  on  any  of  the  topics 
which,  in  the  execution  of  his  trust,  might  present  them- 
selves for  discussion.  Relying  implicity  on  the  sincerity 
of  these  declarations,  I  began  with  regarding. Gen.  Gaines 
as  an  honorable  and  disinter^ied  arbiter  between  the 
United  States,  Georgia,  and  the  Indians,  and  so  continued 
to  regard  him  until  a  short  time  before  his  insulting  letter, 


CHAP.  XL]  LETTER  TO  THE  PRESIDENT.  369 

of  the  10th  ult.,  was  received  at  this  Department.  It  was 
impossible  for  this  Government  not  to  repel  that  insult  with 
indignation. 

The  Chief  Magistrate,  in  his  official  message  to  the  Leg- 
islature, had  stated,  explicitly,  that  Mclntosh  and  his  Chiefs 
had  given  their  consent  to  the  survey ;  and,  in  support  of 
this  statement,  the  letters  of  Mclntosh  were  exhibited  with 
his  name  subscribed  in  his  own  hand,  of  which  General 
Gaines  had  full  information  :  nevertheless,  the  certificate 
of  an  Indian  Chief,  who  had  deserted  from  the  Mclntosh 
party,  and  of  a  white  man,  of  whom  General  Gaines  him- 
self does  not  pretend  to  know  anything,  is  procured  to 
discredit  the  statement  of  the  Governor,  and  to  exhibit 
him  before  the  public  as  the  dupe  of  the  vilest  and  shallow- 
est imposture  ;  and,  in  his  solicitude  to  accomplish  this,  he 
forgets  that  it  is  the  consent  given  by  Mclntosh  and  his 
Chiefs  to  the  survey,  which,  on  the  information  of  the 
Agent,  you  have  taken  for  granted  to  be  the  sole  cause  of 
all  the  disturbances  in  the  nation,  and  upon  which  you 
have  recently  issued  the  most  offensive  orders  to  this  Gov- 
ernment, connected  with  that  survey,  and  in  your  last  even 
denounced  military  vengeance  against  those  who  shall  at- 
tempt to  carry  it  into  execution. 

When  Gen.  Gaines  is  rebuked,  in  the  mildest  language 
which  the  unprovoked  insult  would  admit  of,  he  presents 
himself  again  before  the  public  in.  a  letter,  indulging  in 
most  intemperate  abuse  of  all  the  constituted  authorities 
of  a  sovereign  State,  and  the  great  body  of  its  people,  and 
which  he  causes  to  be  published  almost  a  week  before  it 
was  received  at  this  Department. 

With  regard  to  the  first  letter  of  General  Gaines,  to 
which  I  have  called  your  attention,  he  does  not  seem  to 
have  been  content  with  addressing  a  letter  so  exceptionable 
to  the  head  of  this  Government :  he  assumes  the  authority 
to  order  its  publication,  on  the  allegation  of  some  pretended 
and  undefined  malicious  falsehoods  in  circulation,  and  which 
he  makes  the  foundation  of  an  appeal  to  the  public — an 
appeal  more  censurable  than  that  for  which  the  gallant 
and  meritorious  Porter  is  now  answering,  before  a  Court 
Martial,  assembled  by  your  order ;  inasmuch  as  the  latter 
only  defends  himself  against  the  inculpatory  charges  made 
by  his  own  Government,  whilst  the  former,  who  was 
bound  by  equal  respect  to  this  Government,  does  not  pre- 
tend that  any  charges,  of  any  kind,  had  been  preferred  by 
it  against  him.  It  is  in  this  letter,  too,  that  General  Gaines 

ft 


370  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUT.  [CiiAi-.  XI. 

lias  fallen  into  the  shocking  extravagance  of  asserting, 
what  nobody  can  believe,  that  the  Mclntosh  party,  which 
made  the  treaty,  constituted  but  a  fiftieth  part  of  the 
nation  ;  and  it  was  in  the  same  letter  he  made  known, 
officially,  to  this  Government,  that  he  lias  happily  con- 
cluded a  pacification  of  the  Indians,  when  at that  -moment 
he  was  a<  remote-  from  the  pacification  as  he  ever  had  been, 
of  which  fact  1  have  even  within  the  passing  hour  received 
the  most  incontestable  evidence. 

"With  regard  to  the  second  letter,  of  the,  I'Mh  ult.,  which, 
now  that  I  am  writing,  lias  lor  the  iirst  time  been  put  into 
my  hands,  and  almost  a  week  alter  its  publication,  i  have 
to  remark  that  the  history  of  diplomacy  will  not  furnish  a 

:arked   with  indiscretion,   intemperance,  di 
spect,   and  the  outrage   of  all  decency.     Gen.  Gaines  for- 
\vell  what  i  >wn  Government  as  to 

this.  .His  duly  to  you  required  him  to  sho\v  respect  to  this 
'.Tiiment  in  all  his  intercourse  with  it.  If,  in  that  inter- 
course, he  had  found  himself  wronged  or  aggrieved  by  the 
authorities  here,  it  was  not  allowed  him  to  take  the  redress 
into  his  owji  hands,  ('pen  representation  to  you,  you  were 
competent  to  decide  the  nature  and  the  extent  of  the 
injury  he  had  received,  and  of  the  redressmost  suitable  to  it. 
He  would  not  confide  the  exercise  of  this  privilege  to  you, 
no  doubt  questioning  your  litness  or  discretion  for  such 
matters,  but  chose  to  rely  on  his  own  dexterity  and 
prowess. 

lie  write-,  among  other  things,  of  the  ''malignant  vil- 
lainy'1 which  has  been  extensively  practiced  on  the  cre- 
dulity of  the  good  citizens  of  Georgia,  and  other  States,  in 
reference  to  the  Indians  and  the  treaty.  A  charge  so  vague 
cannot  be  easily  understood,  much  less  distinctly  answered. 
Presupposing  it  to  be  directed  against  the  authorities  of  this 
State,  and  to  be  in  all  respects  true,  who  made  Gen.  Grflinea 
the  judge  to  pass  this  condemnatory  sentence  on  the  con- 
duct of  those  authorities  i  It  had  been  understood  that 
you  had  reserved  to  yourself  this  power,  and  that  General 
Guines  was  here  only  as  your  Agent  to  collect  the  evidence 
upon  which  that  power  was  to  be  exercised. 

lie  proceeds  to  make  another  reference  to  the  certificate 
of  the  Indian  Chief  and  the  white  man — reiterates  tlx 
pivs.-ion  of  unlimited  coniidence  in  the  veracity  of  Marshall 
— eulogizes  him  as  among  the  most  worthy  of  the  "  little 
treaty-making  party,"  -uid  comes  again  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  Chief  .Magistrate  of  Georgia,  and  others,  are  not 


CHAP.  XL]  LETTER  TO  THE  PRESIDENT.  371 

to  be  credited  against  tlie  certificate  of  such  respectable 
personages. 

Within  this  hour,  I  have  received  the  testimony  of  the 
Chiefs  of  the  friendly  party,  voluntarily  given,  "  that  the 
statement  of  Joe  Marshall,  to  General  Gaines,  is  false ; "  and 
I  enclose  you  the  certificate  of  my  express,*  a  man  of  fair- 
est character  and  undoubted  veracity,  to  satisfy  you  that 
Marshall  has  added  falsehood  to  treachery.  In  this  part  of 
his  letter,  he  takes  occasion  to  manifest  his  resentment  to- 
wards the  friends  of  Mclntosh :  he  calls  them  "  the  little 
treaty-making  party ;"  then,  again,  "  the  vassal  Chiefs  of 
Mclntosh,"  and  questions  their  right  to  give  permission  to 
make  the  survey.  What  a  dispassionate  and  impartial  um- 
pire is  this  General  Games!  One  would  have  supposed 
that,  consulting  the  magnanimity  of  a  soldier,  if  he  had 
departed  from  the  line  of  neutrality  at  all,  he  would  be 
found  at  the  head  of  the  weaker — the  innocent  and  injured 
party.  But  the  General,  consulting  the  better  part  of 
valor,  and  counting  the  odds  against  him  as  fifty  to  one, 
throws  himself  into  the  ranks  of  the  stronger  party,  and 
thus  commends  himself  again  to  you  for  that  discretion 
which  you  had  given  to  him  in  advance. 

The  General  is  correct  in  one  of  his  positions,  and,  being 
in  the  right  himself,  he  puts  you  in  the  wrong,  and  so  con- 
spicuously, that  you  stand  on  the  insulated  eminence,  an 
almost  solitary  advocate  for  making  and  breaking  treaties 
at  pleasure. 

General  Gaines  says,  "the  treaty,  no  matter  how  pro- 
cured, had  become  a  law  of  the  land,"  &c.,  &c.  He  had 
said  to  the  hostile  Indians,  at  Broken  Arrow,  "  that  the 
treaty  could  not  be  annulled,  and  must  be  carried  into 
effect,"  &c.,  &c.  This  is  good  sense.  The  day  before  yes- 

*  The  certificate  of  the  express,  Jesse  Prosser,  dated  2d  August,  1825,  stated  that  on 
his  way  to  the  "  Xatioiv'  and  after  ho  had  got  iuto  the  Indian  country,  (with  a  request  from 
the  Governor  to  Mclntosh  and  the  other  Chiefs  for  their  assent  to  the  survey,)  ho  fell  in  -with 
Joe  Marshall  and  William  Edwards,  who  accompained  him  to  Mclntosh's  house ;  that,  on 
Mclntosh's  informing  him  that  he  had  called  a  meeting  of  the.  Chiefs  for  10th  April,  Marshall 
and  Edwards  being  both  present,  Marshall  (acting  as  Interpreter)  informed  witness  that 
when  the  Chiefs  were  convened,  and  their  wishes  consulted,  Mclutosh  would  advise  the 
Governor  of  it,  and  observed  to  witness,  in  presence  of  Mclutosh,  that  he  (Marshall)  had  no 
objection  to  the  survey  ;  that  the  survey  would  be  an  advantage  to  tho  Indians,  as  they  could 
then  dispose  of  a  great  deal  of  their  provisions,  and,  after  their  growing  crop  was  made,  they 
could  sell  out  their  improvements  and  be  ready,  next  spring,  to  set  out  for  their  new  country ; 
that  Marshall  informed  witness  that,  although  Mclntosh  requested  it,  yet  it  was  not  necessary 
for  him  (Marshall)  to  stay  to  the  talk,  as  his  consent  was  given ;  and  that  after  Marshall, 
Edwards  and  witness  left  Mclntosh's  house,  Marshall,  several  times  during  the  journey,  man- 
ifested his  entire  approbation  of  the  survey,  and  observed  that  he  had  no  doubt  of  tho  assent 
of  the  Chiefs  being  given  when  they  should  meet  on  10th  April,  &e. — En. 


;;7-_'  UKH  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  XI. 

:iy,  I  received  your  letter,  in  which  you  say,  General 
aving  informed  you  that  the  treaty  had  been  ob- 
tained   by  intrigue  and  treachery,  it  will   he   referred  to 
Con:  ••  reconsideration.     General    Gaines   rells  the 

Indians  that  no  treaty  lias  ever  yet  been   annulled.     You 

:his  treaty  shall  be  made  an  exception  to  all  others,  and 
u]M.n  the  information   received   from  General   Ga' 

!    Gaines   proceeds  t<>   manifest   his   respect    and 

;>laisance  for  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  ;!  sovereign  State, 
by  informing  him  that  "he  1  !  by 

])ersons  in  whom  he  placed  reliance,  but  who  were  un- 
worthy of  his  eonfid-  !ms  taking  upon  himself  the 

•liability  to  decide,  for  the  Chief  Maoist rate,  on 
the  most  delicate  of  all   ques''  •  necied  with  govern- 

ment and  sovereignty,  viz  :  the  <[iieslioii,  who  are  worthy  of 
trust,  and  who,  among  the  public  servants,  are  or  are  not 
entitled  to  his  confidence.  In  a  little  lime,  sir,  with  your 

tenance  and  encouragement.   General    Gaine-1    would 
have  dictated  the  appointments  to  oliice  in  thl  ;'.nd, 

may  be,  the  lea-i  he-itatiou  or  repugnance  to  comply  with 
such  dictation,  would  be  subdued  by  a  pani-1  '.iled 

ope. 

After  ([noting  a  maxim,  that  "the  king  can  do  no 
wrong,"  and  expatiating  on  the  moral  excellence  of  truth 
and  her  indiscriminate  habitation  at  the  palace  and  the 
lie  plough  and  the  bureau  of  State — with  the  wand- 
erers of  the  wilderness  and  the  honest  but.  unfortunate 
debtors,  of  all  which  I  cannot,  tor  the  life  of  me,  under- 
stand the  application,  much  less  the  farrago  which  foil. 
about  somebody  regarding  moix ;/  a  ////A-  mOT6  and  trutli  a 

•'sed   poverty  and  luxuri* 

plundered  wealth,  Arc.,  ece..  and  which  is  equally  unintel- 
ligible;  General  Gaines  is  scarcely  more  distinct  and  intel- 
ligible, when,  in  passing  a  meagre  compliment  to  a  portion 
of  the  Citizens  of  Georgia,  he  ]  :  :o  ''rely  on  the 

nil,  justice  and  patriotism  of  at  least  nine-tenth 
those  with  whom  he  has  the  pleasure  of  an  acquaintai. 
many  of  whom  are  cultivators  of  the  land  ;  and  then,  again, 
"that  the   cultivators   are  the  adamantine  pillars    of   the 
Union,  against  which  the  angry   vaporing   paper  squib>  of 
the  /'  i   the    <//•  of  all    countries  may 

continue  to  be  hurled  for  hundreds  of  centuries  without 
endangering  the  noble  edifice,"  Arc.,  Arc.,  all  of  which  may 
be  intended  to  coin--  i  meaning  and  admit  of  ready 

explanation  by  General  Gaines,  but  which,  I  assure  you. 
sir,  is  altogether  above;  my  comprehension. 


CHAP.  XL]  LETTER  TO  THE  PRESIDENT.  3Y3 

The  General  soon  becomes  a  little  more  explicit,  when 
he  says  there  is  in  Georgia  a  small  class  of  men,  who,  like 
the  "  holy  alliance,  profess  to  employ  themselves  in  the 
laudable  work  of  enlightening  and  governing  all  other 
classes  of  the  community,  but  whose  labors  consist  of  vain 
and  daring  efforts  to  prove  that  the  light  of  truth  is 
to  be  found  only  with  the  party  to  which  themselves 
respectively  belong,  and  that  all  others  go  wrong."  Party  ! 
Sir  ;  an  Agent  representing  the  Government  of  the  Unit- 
ed States  before  the  Government  of  Georgia,  address- 
ing to  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  the  State  an  official  paper, 
in  which,  descanting  on  the  state  of  parties,  the  writer 
places  himself  by  the  side  of  the  one  party,  and  fulminates 
a  denunciation  against  the  other  ! 

Pray,  Sir,  suffer  me  to  ask  if  Major-Gen.  Gaines  received 
special  instructions  at  your  hands  so  to  deport  himself— to 
pry  into  the  state  of  parties  to  find  out  the  relative  strength 
of  them — to  place  himself  on  the  side  of  the  strongest, 
giving  it  aid,  countenance  and  co-operation — and  from 
this  strong-hold  to  issue  insolent  anathemas  against  the 
other,  through  the  Governor  of  the  State,  thus  directly 
intermeddling  in  our  local  politics  and  availing  himself  of 
our  unhappy  divisions  to  make  the  exasperations  of  party 
yet  more  bitter  ?  Gen.  Gaines  will  not  permit  us  to  mistake 
him — he  proceeds  to  call  the  particular  party  to  which  he 
is  opposed,  the  "one-sided  enlightening  class  ;"  in  another 
place  he  calls  them  "  the  small  class." 

The  opportunities  of  General  Gaines  to  inform  himself 
of  the  state  of  parties  in  Georgia,  have  been  no  doubt 
much  better  than  mine,  which  have  indeed  been  very 
limited,  but  1  have  more  generally  heard  from  men  better 
informed,  that  the  relative  strength  of  parties  was  somewhat 
different  from  the  General's  estimate  of  it.  He  seems  to 
have  adopted  the  same  rule  of  enumeration,  under  the 
same  optical  delusion,  as  in  measuring  the  strength  of  the 
Indian  parties,  and  to  have  arrived  at  the  very  gratifying 
conclusion  that  the  numerical  strength  was  in  the  propor- 
tion of  50  to  1  ;  undoubtedly  a  very  incorrect  conclusion. 

This  officer  took  umbrage  at  my  request  to  permit  the 
Commissioners,  on  the  part  of  the  State,  to  act  in  friendly 
concert  with  him,  in  making  his  investigation  for  the  dis- 
covery of  truth.  Why  he  did  so,  I  cannot  conjecture. 
This,  however,  was  passed  by  without  notice,  as  was  his 
subsequent  refusal  to  admit  them  to  a  participation  of  the 
Councils  in  matters  involving  interests  of  Georgia.  His 
indiscretion  in  declaring,  before  the  Council  at  Broken 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [('MAP.  XI. 

Arrow,  that  if  the  congregated  world  were  to  contradict  the 
Chief  Yoholo,  lie  would  not  believe  it — has  been  already 
noticed  in  the  letter  which  I  last  had  the  honor  to  address 
to  you.  It  is  upon  the  authority  of  this  Chief,  Ilambly, 
reprc<euted  to  be  one  of  the  most  infamous  of  men,  and 
of  the  Agent  of  Indian  Affairs,  that,  you  have  come  to  the 
conclusion  to  return  the  treaty  to  Congress,  for  revision,  it 
having  been  procured  by  intrigue  and  treachery. 

•i.  (iaines  is  reported  to  me  to  have  said,  in  the  pres- 
ence of  one  of  the  Commissioners  on  the  part  of  the  State, 
that  if  -2'.\  State-  out  of  theiM-  were  to  pronounce  ihe  Agent 
guilty,  lie  would  not  believe  them. 

Gen.  (iaines  has  been  guilty  of  the  childish  indiscretion 
of  threatening  to  cut  oft  the  heads  or  ears  of  citizens  of 
Georgia  who  happened  to  offend  him,  as  if  you  had  given 
him  his  sword  for  this  special  service. 

Hut,  indeed,  Sir,  it  is  high  time  to  dismiss  the  subject  of 
this  oflicer. 

In  maintaining  correspondence  with   the  Government  of 

the  United  State-.  I  have  not  permitted  any  false  consider- 
ations of  dignity,  or  any  false  estimates  of  forms  and 
ceremonies,  which  usually  govern  diplomatic  intercourse 
betv,  to  interpose  the  least  difficulty.  So  far 

from  it,  I  have  cheerfully  descended  to  the  level  of  every 
thing  which  it  pleased  you  at  any  time  to  employ  as  your 
representative  or  organ — from  the  Clerks  of  your  Hnreaiis, 
up  to  your  Major-Generals  by  brevet,  and  have  acted  and 
treated  with  them  as  equals. 

In  the  deportment  of  some  of  these,  I  have  experienced 
arro:  't'-su!iiciency,  a  haughty  and  contemptuous  car- 

riage, and  a  most  insulting  interference  with  our  local 
politics;  and  these  characteristics  not  exhibited  to  one  but 
to  al!  of  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  State.  Now, 
Sir,  suffer  me,  in  conclusion,  to  ask  if  these  things  have 
been  done  in  virtue  of  your  own  instructions  express  or 
implied,  or  by  authority  of  any  warrant  from  you  whatso- 
ever; and,  if  not  so  done,  whether  you  will  sanction  or 
adopt  them  as  your  own,  and  thus  hold  yourself  responsible 
to  the  Government  of  Georgia. 

O 

He  persuaded,  Sir,  that  whenever  hereafter  you  shall 
think  proper,  not  deceiving  yourself  or  us,  to  send  gen- 
tlemen to  represent  you  before  this  (iovermnent,  of  the 
character  given  to  those  by  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of 
War  of  the  Jsth  M"ay,  they  will  be  received  and  respected 


AP.  XL]     CORRESPONDENCE  WITH  CHIEF  CLERK.      375 

as  officers  of  the  General  Government  would  be  by  the 

fiost  friendly  States  of  the  Union. 
"With  great  consideration, 
G.  M.  TEOUP. 

We  go  back,  now,  in  the  order  of  time,  and  notice  some 
other  matters  in  this  Indian  controversy.  Having,  on 
13th  June,  forwarded  to  the  President  the  report  and 
resolutions  of  the  Legislature,  with  the  evidence  support- 
ing them,  all  "  having  relation  to  the  conduct  of  the  Agent 
for  Indian  Affairs,  as  connected  with  the  late  disturbances 
in  the  Creek  Nation,"  he  received,  soon  after,  a  reply 
through  Major  Yandeventer,  Chief  Clerk  of  the  War  De- 
partment, dated  25th  June,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of 
the  letter  and  enclosures,  and  stating  that  the  President 
would  "  give  to  them  ail  the  consideration  which,  coming 
from  so  high  a  source,  they  may  merit."  On  the  loth 
June,  the  Chief  Clerk  had  written  to  the  Governor,  ac- 
knowledging the  receipt  of  his  letter,  of  the  3d  June,  to  the 
Secretary  of  "War,  and  stating  that  the  President  had  (in 
the  absence  of  the  Secretary,)  directed  him  to  say,  in  reply, 
"  that  if  the  Government  of  Georgia  should  undertake  the 

o 

project  of  surveying  the  lands  ceded  to  the  United  States 
by  the  Creek  Nation  of  Indians,"  &c.,  "  before  the  expira- 
tion of  the  time  specified  by  the  8th  article  of  the  treaty, 
for  the  removal  of  the  Indians,  it  will  be  wholly  upon  its 
responsibility ;  and  that  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  will  not  in  any  manner  be  responsible  for  any  con- 
sequences which  may  result  from  that  measure." 

The  Governor,  on  25th  June,  replied,  as  follows,  to  the 
Chief  Clerk : 

I  received,  this  morning,  the  note  which,  in  the  absence 
of  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  President  of  the  -United 
States  directed  you  to  address  to  me,  and  in  which  I  am 
informed  that  the  project  of  surveying  the  lands  ceded  to 
the  United  States  by  the  Creek  Nation  of  Indians,  at  the 
treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs,  before  the  expiration  of  the 
time  specified  by  the  8th  article  of  the  treaty  for  the  removal 
of  the  Indians,  will  be  wholly  upon  its  (the  Government  of 


376  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

Georgia's)  responsibility,  and  that  the  Government  (viz  :  the 
Government  of  the  United  States)  will  not  in  any  manner 
he  responsible  for  any  con-  -  which  may  result 

from  that  mcn-uiv."  A  very  friendly  admonition,  truly. 
So  that,  whilst  you  ivfenvd  your  resistance  of  the  survey 
to  the  evils  already  produced  by  the  men.-  effort  on  the 
part  of  this  Government  to  obtain  permission  to  make  the 
survey,  and  when  the  fact  of  that  cause  producing  those 
effects  is  disproven.  and  it  is  made  known  to  you  that 
nobody  here,  either  whites  <>r  hid:  -uch 

a   thing  as  possible    .  >u  had  assumed  it  upon  the 

representation   of  th  as    undoubtedly    true:  and 

that  your  own   Agent,  t"  own  purposes,  had  fabri- 

cated   it,    to   deceive  and  m;  .u,   nevertheless,  you 

continue  to  issue  order  after  order  forbidding  the  survc  . 
if  you  had  pi  .ined,  from  the  beginning,  that,  under 

•no   circumstances,  should  we  pr"  the   survey  with- 

out your  express  per  iiad  and  obtained.     -Nay, 

more  repeat   this  order  to  General  Gaines,  who  is 

charged  to  promulgate,  it  to  the  hostile  Indian-;  so  that, 
whether  there  be  any  tiling  obnoxious  in  the  survey  or 
not,  they  may  seize  it  as  a  pretence,  under  the  authority 
and  with  the  support  of  the  United  States,  to  seal])  and 
tomahawk  our  people  as  soon  as  we  shall  attempt  that 
survey  ;  and  that,  in  fact,  you  adopt  for  the  Indians, 
tuitously,  an  imaginary  wrong  done  to  them,  persuade  them, 
even  against  their  will,  that  it  is  a  real  one,  and  then 
leave  them  to  indulge,  in  unbridled  fury,  the  most 
tempestuous  pa— ions;  and  this,  I  presume,  is  the  mean- 
ing, in  part,  of  the  responsibilities  which  we  are  to  incur 
if  we  disregard  the  mandate  of  the  Government  of  the 
United  States. 

You  will,  therefore,  in  the  absence  of  the  Secretary  of 
War,  make  known  to  the  President,  that  the  Legislature, 
having,  in  concurrence  with  the  expressed  opinion  of  the 
•  •utive,  come  to  the  almost  unanimous  conclusion,  that 
by  the  treaty,  tho  jurisdiction,  together  with  the  soil, 
,'d  to  Georgia,  and  in  consequence  thereof,  authorized 
the  Governor  to  cause  the  line  to  be  run,  and  the  survey 
to  be  made,  it  becomes  me,  in  candor,  to  state  to  the 
1'resident,  that  the.  survey  will  be  made,  and  in  due  time, 
and  of  which  .Major-General  Gaines  has  already  had  suf- 
ficient notice. 

Whilst,  in  the  execution  of  the  decrees  of  our  own  con- 
stituted authorities,  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
will  find  nothing  but  frankness  and  magnanimity  on  our 


CHAP.  XL]  FURTHER  CORRESPONDENCE.  377 

part,  we  may  reasonably  claim  the  observance,  in  like 
degree,  of  these  noble  qualities  on  theirs.  When,  therefore, 
certain  responsibilities  are  spoken  of,  in  the  communica- 
tion of  the  President,  we  can  rightfully  inquire,  what 
responsibilities  ?  Georgia,  in  the  maintenance  of  her  un- 
doubted rights,  fears  no  responsibilities  ;  yet,  it  is  well  for 
Georgia  to  know  them,  so  far  as  they  are  menaced  by  the 
United  States.  If  it  is  intended  that  the  Government  of 
the  United  States  will  interpose  its  power  to  prevent  the 
survey,  the  Government  of  Georgia  cannot  have  too  early 
or  too  distinct  notice ;  for,  how  highly  dishonorable  would 
it  be  for  the  stronger  party  to  avail  itself  of  that  power  to 
surprise  the  weaker  !  If  the  Government  only  means  that, 
omitting  its  constitutional  duty,  it  will  not  pacify  the  In- 
dians, and  make  safe  the  frontier,  whilst  the  officers  of 
Georgia  are  in  peaceful  fulfilment  of  their  instructions, 
connected  with  the  survey,  it  is  important  to  the  Govern- 
ment of  Georgia  to  know  it ;  that,  depending  on  itself  for 
safety,  it  shall  not  depend  in  vain.  But,  if  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  mean  what  is  not  even  yet  to  be 
believed,  that,  assuming,  like  their  Agent,  upon  another 
not  dissimilar  occasion,  an  attitude  of  neutrality  feigned 
and  insincere,  it  will,  like  that  Agent,  harrow  up  the 
Indians  to  the  commission  of  hostile  and  bloody  deeds, 
then,  indeed,  the  Government  of  Georgia  should  also  know 
it,  that  it  may  guard  and  fence  itself  against  the  perfidy 
and  treachery  of  false  friends.  In  either  event,  however, 
the  President  of  the  United  States  may  rest  contented 
that  the  Government  of  Georgia  cares  for  no  responsibili- 
ties in  the  exercise  of  its  right  and  the  execution  of  its 
trust,  but  those  which  belong  to  conscience  and  to  God, 
which,  thanks  to  Him,  is  equally  our  God  as  the  God  of  the 
United  States. 

To  this  letter,  Governor  Troup  received  a  reply  from  the 
Secretary  of  War,  dated  21st  July,  in  which  that  officer 
said: 

Your  letter,  of  the  25th  of  June,  addressed  to  Major 
Vandeventer,  has  been  received,  the  answer  to  which  has 
been  intentionally  delayed  till  the  result  of  Gen.  Games' 
interview  with  the  Indians,  at  Broken  Arrow,  should  be 
received,  as  the  President  had  anxiously  hoped,  in  the  ac- 
quiescence of  the  Indians  to  the  treaty,  to  have  found  the 
necessity  of  replying  to  your  inquiries  entirely  obviated. 
48 


378  MFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [C»AP-  XI- 

But,  as  the  communications  from  General  Gaines,  recently 
received  here,  have  entirely  destroyed  that  hope,  a  reply 
has  l.ecome  necessary. 

The  Indians,  to  the  number  <>f  IV.MI,  including  a  large 
majority  of  their  Chief-  and  Head-men  of  the  tril>e,  have 
denounced  the  tivaly  as  tainted  alike  with  intrigue  and 
treachery.  ;ind  as  the  act  of  a  very  small  portion  of  the 
trihe,  against  the  express  determination  of  a  very  large 
majority  :  a  determination  known  to  the  Commission'. 

They  urge  that,  to  enforce  a  compliance  with  an  instru- 
ment thus  obtained,  would  illy  become  either  the  justice  or 
the  magnanimity  of  the  Unit'  -,  under  which  I 

claim  to  take  -heller.     These  are  allegations  present:. 
({lie-  oml    the    cognizance   of  the  Executive,    and 

necessarily  i\  C  .     .  ;iltention  wiil 

be  called  to  it  at  an  early  day  after  the-next  annual  ED 
ing.     Meanwhile,  the    President,  acting  on   the  trea; 
though  its  validity  had  not   been   impeached,  linds.  by  re- 
ference to  the  eighth  article  of  the  treaty,  the  faith  of  the 
United  States  solemnly  pledged  to  protect  the  Creek  Indians 
from  any  encroachment,  till  their  removal  in  September, 
!.     He  thei\  !ded  that  the  entering  upon  and 

surveying  the-  lands  before  that  period,  would  lie  an  infrac- 
tion of  the  treaty,  whose  interpretation  and  execution, 
should  it  remain  uncanceled,  are  alike  confided  to  him.  1 
am,  therefore,  directed  by  the  President  to  state  distinctly 
to  your  Excellency,  that,  for  the  present,  he  will  not  permit 
such  entry  or  survey  to  be  made.  The  pain  the  President 
has  felt,  in  coming  to  this  decision,  is  diminished  by  the 
recollection  that  it  interferes  with  no  duty  imposed  on  your 
Excellency  by  the  laws  of  Georgia,  as  a  discretion  is  given 
you,  by  the  late  law  of  the  Legislature,  in  prescribing  the 
time  when  the  lands  embraced  by  the  treaty  shall  be  sur- 
veyed. Under  all  the  circumstances,  the  President  permits 
himself  to  hope  that  you  will  acquiesce  in  his  decision. 

a  General  Gaines  has  been  in  communication  with  you 
on  this  subject,  and  as  it  is  the  wish  of  the  President  you 
should  be  in  possession  of  every  measure  he  may  lind  him- 
self constrained  to  take  thereon,  1  am  directed  to  enclose 
to  your  Excellency  a  copy  of  General  Gaines'  instructions 
of  this  date. 

In  his  instructions  to  General  Gaines,  the  Secretary  of 
War  said : 

"  It  is  still  devoutly  to  be  hoped  that  Governor  Troup 


CHAP.  XL]          GOVERNOR  TO  SECRETARY  OF  WAR.  379 

will  abstain  from  any  act  that  may  make  it  necessary  to 
have  recourse  to  the  steps  suggested :  yet,  should  he  per- 
severe in  sending  persons  to  survey  the  lands  embraced 
within  the  treaty,  you  are  hereby  authorized  to  employ  the 
military,  to  prevent  their  entrance  on  the  Indian  Territory, 
or,  if  they  should  succeed  in  entering  the  country,  to  cause 
them  to  be  arrested,  and  turn  them  over  to  the  judicial 
authority,  to  be  dealt  with  as  the  law  directs." 

To  the  foregoing  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  Gov. 
Troup  replied  on  the  15th  of  August,  and  said : 

I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  21st  ult.,  giving  the 
desired  explanation  of  the  former  one  of  the  15th  day  of 
June  last,  in  which  you  wrote  of  undefined  responsibilities 
which  this  government  must  incur  if  it  attempted  the  sur- 
vey of  the  lands  acquired  from  the  Creeks,  and  which 
results  in  the  employment  of  the  bayonet  on  your  part,  and 
of  the  tomahawk  and  scalping-knife  on  the  part  of  the  In- 
dians, if  the  survey  be  attempted.  I  thank  you  for  this 
explanation ;  for,  whether  your  intent  were  good  or  evil,  it 
equally  became  you  to  make  it.  You  make  known,  at  the 
same  time,  the  resolution  of  the  President  to  refer  the  treaty 
to  Congress,  on  the  allegation  that  intrigue  and  treachery 
have  been  employed  to  procure  it.  This  at  once  puts  a 
stop  to  the  survey,  and  you  will  inform  the  President  that, 
until  the  will  of  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  is  expresssed, 
no  measures  will  be  taken  to  execute  the  survey. 

The  Executive  of  Georgia  has  no  authority,  in  the  civil 
war  with  which  the  State  is  menaced,  to  strike  the  first 
blow,  nor  has  it  the  inclination  to  provoke  it — this  is  left 
for  those  who  have  both  the  inclination  and  authority,  and 
who  profess  to  love  the  Union  best.  The  Legislature  will, 
on  their  first  meeting,  decide  what,  in  this  respect,  the  rights 
and  the  interests  of  the  State  demand.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  right  to  make  the  survey  is  asserted,  and  the  reference 
of  the  treaty  to  Congress,  for  revision,  protested  against  with- 
out any  qualification.  It  is  true,  sir,  that,  according  to  my 
own  opinion,  if  there  be  fraud  and  corruption  in  the  pro- 
curement of  the  treaty,  it  ought  to  be  set  aside  by  the  in- 
dignant expression  of  the  nation's  will — the  taint  of  such 
corruption,  according  to  that  opinion,  would  suffice  to  ren- 
der void  an  instrument  of  any  kind  purporting  to  pass  a 
right  of  any  kind. 

But,  of  what  avail  is  this  opinion  against  your  own  estab- 
lished maxims  and  precedents  ?  You  would  decry  it  as  the 


380  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROFP.  [CHAP.  XT. 

MS  of  a  wild  enthusiast,  von 

would  refer  me  t<>  all   your   Indian   treaties.      You    \ 

16,  in  full   relief,  the  decision  of  your  Supreme 
Court,  in  the  case  of  Fletcher  and  !'• 

5s-iie  hi'iii-'  mad.  ]»riuei])le.  the  principle   was 

•riria  having,  hy  briberv 
'•oiTiiption.  s»ld   the   inh< 

i'ii^lit  which  could 

by  no  possibility  he  dive-ted.  and  therefore  that   the  Con- 

gress had  no  alternative  l>Ut  V    of 

'•aina  and  Mis-i>sippi,  or  coin:  i'hev 

•  the  latter,  an<:  .   the 

.     :'  which  we  paid  our  full  proportion. 
Whilst,  therefor  my  own  opinion  (,;;   the  one 

hand,  you  have,  on  the  other,   my  puhlic  and  oiHcial   pn>- 
lion  in  B!  unison  with  your  and  all 

constituted  authorit:  .  and  which  plac< 

ty  upon  siicli  hiirh  Around,  I       .  by  what 

rahlc  b:;-  may   have  ! 

cannot  re:i'-h  it. 

It  may  at    I  do  .-'• 

Indian  treaty  has  ever  1  \uded  in 

:h  than  the  one  which  is  the  suhject  of  thi 
If  it  be  otherwise,   having  been   concluded   by  your 
officer^,  a^ain-f  your  in-truction-,  without  any  ])articijialioii 

;:horitie~  :-;;ia.   1   sincerely  hope  t!: 

officers  may.  you  aai  1"  trial 

andj)uni-  t,  according  to  your  own  d 

impair  the  validity  of  tl.  .     The  i. 

latnre  of  Georgia  will,  therefore,  on   its  :  ting,  be 

advi-eil  to  resist  any  dlort  which  may  be   made   to   v 
from  the  State  the  territory  acquired  by  that  treaty,  and  no 
matter  by  what  authority  thai  6  made. 

The  hostile  Indians  having  re-olved  they  will   never  sur- 
render it  hut  with  their   lives,   and  you   having   p 

!  in  this  resolution,  ..ppeal   i; 

ur  magnanimity  ami  :!y,  and  it  bein^  obvious 

that  our  right,  not  a-serti  to  us  forever  :  if  the 

i;;ll  fail  to  vindicate  lhat  ri^ht,  the   responsi- 
ill  be  theirs  —  not  mine. 


rdan,    William- 
1  Torrance,  who  had  been   appointed   under 
the  resolution  of  the  Leiri>lature.  and   ;;cU'd    i;n<K'r   the   in 
Structions  of  the  Governor,  already  noticed,  made  a  report 


CHAP.  XL]  REPORT  OF  COMMISSIONERS.  381 

to  the  Governor  on  the  IGth  of  July,  appended  to  which 
were  their  correspondence  with  Gen.  Gaines,  Major  An- 
drews and  Col.  Crowell,  notes  of  their  proceedings,  and  a 
mass  of  testimony,  sufficient  to  make  a  volume.  We  can 
only  make  room  for  a  few  extracts  from  the  report,  which 
are  of  a  general  nature — a  recapitulation  of  the  report 
being  embraced  in  the  letter  of  the  Governor  to  the  Presi- 
dent, dated  26th  July,  and  which  will  be  inserted  in  this 
chapter. 

Speaking  of  one  of  their  examinations,  the  Commission- 
ers said:  "  We  are  unable  to  give  you  a  proper  idea  of 
this  examination.  Suffice  it  to  say,  we  became  satisfied  that 
any  attempt  on  our  part  to  obtain  the  truth  from  men  living 
in  the  Indian  nation,  (whether  white  or  red,)  and  under  the 
influence  and  power  of  the  Agent,  into  whose  conduct  we 
were  then  examining,  must  be  fruitless."  Again  :  "  From 
the  course  pursued  by  the  Agent,  at  that  Council,  and  his 
permission  to  do  so,  (for  the  omission  to  prohibit  him  was 
permission,}  his  suspension  was  purely  nominal — it  was  a 
mere  mockery.  We  have  no  doubt  but  that  his  free  ad- 
mission into  the  Indian  Councils,  aided  and  assisted  by  his 
former  sub-Agent,  Mr.  Walker,  gave  to  him  quite  as  much 
influence  over  the  minds  of  the  Indians  as  he  ever  exercised 
in  the  days  of  his  utmost  prosperity  and  authority."  Again : 
u  Upon  the  subject  of  a  law  which  the  hostile  party  allege 
that  Mclntosh  violated,  and  which  led  to  his  death,  you  are 
referred  to  the  report  of  Messrs.  Jourdan  and  Williamson. 
We  have  no  doubt,  from  the  very  many  contradictory 
stories  that  we  had  heard  in  the  Nation,  touching  the  origin 
of  the  enactment  of  such  a  law,  that  no  such  law  was  ever 
known  among  the  Creeks.  We  are  confirmed  in  this  opin- 
ion, by  the  reply  of  Gen.  Gaines  to  the  friendly  Chiefs  at 
the  Indian  Springs  on  the  20th  ult.  If  we  are  correctly  in- 
formed upon  that  point,  he  there  stated  that  he  had  read  their 
laws,  and  was  gratified  to  find  none  so  sanguinary  as  that  al- 
leged by  their  enemies  to  exist,  under  color  of  which  it  had 
been  stated  that  the  murder  of  Mclntosh  was  perpetrated. 
The  Chiefs  in  Council  did  not  pretend  that  they  had  any 


382  '-II'1'  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

such  law  iv dn ce<l  to  record.     A  white  man,  who  informed 

of  the  Commissioners  that  he  h;ul  resided  in  the  Nation 

;y  or  thirty  year-:,  stated  that  lie  knew  of  no  such  law. 

The  very  manner  in  which  the-e  unfortunate  m  •  put 

Indians  <lid  -ute  them  for 

having  \'  :>y  law.     We  believe  that  when  it  became 

necessary  to  enforce  ruinary  edicts   upon  an 

that  tribe,  the  eulpri!  and   conducted 

or  puhlic  square  in  the  Nation,  and  there  undergoes 
iitencc  of  death   is  then  pronounced, 

the  accused  is  t!:  put  to  <!•  ing. 

,  iow  unlike  such  a  procedure  was  the  foul   murder  of 
Mclntosh  and  hi  :   his  hoi  -irronnd' 

h.-iir  of  night,  and  set.  mi  lire  hy  a  hand  of  lawless 

.  and  tin-  the  scorching  liaine^  pro- 

ducccl  by   the  'conflagration   of  his   own   mansion,  was  he 

inhumanly    and    most    unlawfully    put  to    death.     When 

witnesses  are  called  on  in  the  Nation,  who,  it  is  supp> 

knew  something  of  Indian   laws   and  Indian  they 

acc"unt  for  these  murders  hy  saving,  if  \va-  i'o;-  violation  of 

their  law — which  law,  answers  a  Church   Mi.- -ionary,  was 

•'''"'///.     '-'  '""     '-"     The  gross  inconsistencies  in 

-tatements  of   the    Indian*,   and   white    men   resident 

among  them,  to  estahlish  the  existence  of  such  a  law,  fix 

indelibly  on  the  minds  of  the  Commissioners  that  no  such 

law  is,  or  ever  was. ';:'     The  argument  in  support  of  Mich   a 

law,  prove--  too  much  :  the  Agent  himself  did  not  rely  on 

it  at  the  commencement  of  these  Indian  disturbai; 

"::"       How  far  the  whole  of  the  testimony 
taken  in  support  of  the  charges  against,  the  Indian  Agent, 
;,ii;s  those  eh:  not  for  us  officially  to  determine; 

nor  do  v,  in  opinion,  of  an  oilicial  char- 

acter, upon    the    subject.     There   is  a  subject   not  directly 

*     In  '.  tliinl  edition,  Mr.  Slii-rv  ul  no 

such  l.  ';:iiiii--  and  the  Qoorglft  Ooi  <  <>u!>l  Mini  7^ 

(if  it.      )',llt    if   :  :\   l;iw.  :•!!   til 

•      Mrillt'-ll.       If    tlilT.>   li:nl    IH-I-II    Mli-ll    :\    l:t« 
fiil'ill''!    '  t.     \vll()    \\ii|]i',-i-.l    the    tl-:itv.    Jlnl    \\]  •  'il'ili VI  I'f  til" 

Iii'li:-.!,-.  .    uhl  not  huvo  .-iiilViT.'.l  a  ln-ivo  warrior  liko  Mrl 

a  tricil  nn,l  stc,Tlf:i-t  frk'iiil   to  tli—e  1'nitnl  Stall's,  to  sign  hi-  rrnnt."— Ki>. 


dr 


CHAP.  XL]  LETTER  TO  THE  PRESIDENT.  383 

within  the  objects  of  our  appointment,  but  it  is  insepara- 
bly connected  with  the  treaty  and  its  consequences,  upon 
which  we  beg  leave  to  offer  a  remark.  It  is  upon  the 
subject  of  the  contemplated  survey  of  the  territory  lately 
ceded.  During  the  stay  of  the  Commissioners  at  the  In- 
dian Springs,  three  of  them  were  informed  by  several  of 
the  leading  Chiefs  of  the  friendly  party,  that  they  were  will- 
g  and  even  desirous  that  the  survey  should  be  made 
.uring  the  ensuing  fall,  and  assigned  as  a  reason  that  the 
surveyors  and  their  people  being  amongst  them  at  that 
period,  would  afford  them  an  opportunity  of  disposing  of 
much  of  their  products,  that  they  could  not  transport  with 
them  to  the  westward ;  that  they  intended  removing  beyond 
the  Mississippi  before  another  crop  was  made,  if  the  Gen- 
eral Government  would  pay  them  the  money,  according  to 
the  terms  of  the  treaty.  Connected  with  this,  Sir,  we  re- 
mark that  it  is  somewhat  strange  that  the  Chiefs  who 
reside  beyond  the  limits  of  the  territory  ceded  to  the 
United  States  for  the  benefit  of  Georgia,  are  the  only 
Chiefs,  with  a  few  exceptions,  so  far  as  we  are  informed, 
who  are  opposed  to  the  survey." 

The  report  concluded  by  stating  that  there  was  some 
other  testimony  to  be  taken,  with  which  they  would  pro- 
ceed as  soon  as  practicable. 

The  reader  is  now  referred  to  the  following  letter  from 
Governor  Troup  to  the  President,  giving  a  summary  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Commissioners,  the  obstacles  they  en- 
countered, &c.  It  was  dated  July  26th,  1825  : 

In  communicating  the  report  of  the  Commissioners  of 
the  State,  appointed  under  certain  resolutions  of  the  Legis- 
lature to  take  testimony  in  the  case  of  the  Agent  for  Indian 
affairs,  and  to  investigate  the  causes  of  the  late. disturbances 
in  the  Creek  JSTation,  it  might  be  more  satisfactory  to  you 
to  receive  it  without  comment.  The  report  may  indeed  be 
said  to  carry  with  it  its  own  commentary  ;  nevertheless,  a 
few  remarks  elucidatory  of  certain  parts  of  it  not  easily 
understood  by  persons  removed  from  the  scene  of  action, 
may  not  be  deemed  objectionable. 

I  think,  from  the  context  of  the  report,  but  one  impres- 


384  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROIT.  [Ciur.  XL* 

sion  will  he  111;:  le  upon  every   lair  u:ul  unbiased  mind — 

that  whatever  may  have  been  the  motives  wliicli  governed 

the   conduct   of   the  "ii    the   ])art    of   the    United 

,  making  the  late  investigations  in  the  Nation,  the 

re-uh-  of  tli  ;fh  as  to  warrant 

.  if  the  m  -ion,  and 

'iie  development,  of  truth,  no  other  n  :!d   have 

follow 

[The  rest  of  th>  rring  to  the  alleged  re- 

fusal of  certain  per.-..  their  statement-  by  oath, 

iot  deemed  importat.  n  here.] 

The  examination  of  Hamhly,  the  interpreter,  and  eonti- 
:  of  the  Agent,    •  reporte-.l   to  you   by 

:   Oommiaeionen  AS  8   base  and    unworthy  fellow, 
iras  distinguished  for  ita  irregularity.    Ti:  of  that 

exami:;;;  to  lay  a  broad  foundation  f.n.-  the.  rupture 

of  the  tr  -howing  it  to  be  the  offspring  <>f  bri; 

and  corruption,  and  enormously   wicked   contri- 

vances; and  to  traduce  the  characters  and  di.-civdit  the 
testimon;  the  u\<>-*\  respectable  men  among  us. 

Jio\v  bad  must  tl.  be  which  would  employ  such  an 

in-trunie  >mplish  such  a  purpo-r  ! 

When  Yoholo,  a  principal  Chief  in  the  Council,  made  a 
talk  detailing  cir  i  with  the  bite  n 

tiations  at  the  Indian  Spr'  .  Williamson,  one  of  the 

Commissioners,  who  •  int,  and  who  had  aUo   been  a 

close  observer  of  occurrences  at  the  Springs,  said  to  ( lener- 
eral  Gaines  that  ho  knew,  of  his  o\vn  knowledge,  the  si 
ments  of  Voholo  to  be  false:   the  General   answered,  that 
he  would  not  believe  the  congregated  world,  if  it  were  io 
Nov.-  you  will  have  an  opportunity  of  seeing    that 
the  statements  of  the  Indian  Chief  arc  in  direct  contradic- 
tion to  th  tents  of  the  Commissioners  of  the  United 
States  and  their  Secretary,  of  Col.  Williamson  himsi. 
all  the  friendly  Chief-.  every  respectable  white  man 
who  \vas  present  at  the  Indian  Spr' 

The  refusal  of  General  permit  a  separate  ex- 

amination of  the  Chiefs,  in  his  presence,  as  the  only  mode 
of  extracting  the  truth,  and  after  having  more  than  once 
promised  it,  is  as  unaccountable  as  it  was  unexpected. 

It  is  understood  that:  the  Indians  could  produce  no  law 
authorizing  the  execution  of  Mclnto>ii  :  yet,  Gen.  Gaines 
must  have  taken  for  granted  the  existence  of  such  a  law, 
for  he  passes  by  the  murder  as  justifiable  homicide.  The 


CHAP.  XL]  LETTER  CONTINUED.  385 

whole  "body  of  evidence,  as  you  will  see,  completely  dis- 
proves the  existence  of  the  law. 

The  refusal  of  Gen.  Gaines  to  admit  the  Commissioners 
of  Georgia,  as  such,  to  a  participation  of  the  Indian  Coun- 
cils in  all  matters  touching  the  interests  of  Georgia,  was  a 
wrong  done  to  the  State,  and  an  indignity  offered  to  its 
constituted  authorities. 

The  interdict  put  upon  our  Commissioners,  by  General 
Gaines,  to  announce  to  the  Indians,  according  to  their  in- 
structions, the  resolution  of  this  Government  to  make  the 
iurvey,  and   to  represent  to  them  the  harmlessness  and 
nnocency  of  the  act,  whilst  the  General  announced  the 
esolution  of  his  own  Government  to  prevent  it,  was  a  fur- 
ther wrong  done  to  the  State,  and  a  disrespect  manifested 
of  the  authority  which  gave  that  instruction. 

A  gentleman  of  clear  intellect,  pure  morals,  honorable 
character,  and  great  prudence,  is  selected  by  the  Governor 
to  hold  a  talk  with  the  Indians — he  performs  that  duty — 
makes  his  report,  and  that  report  is  at  once  discredited  on 
the  naked  word  of  the  Indians.  Gen.  Mclntosh  writes 
three  several  letters  to  the  Governor,  subscribed  by  his  own 
proper  hand,  giving  his  assent  to  the  survey  of  the  country  ; 
the  friendly  Chiefs,  Marshall  included,  repeatedly  assure 
the  Governor,  that  they,  one  and  all,  consent  to  the  survey  ; 
a  certificate  is  obtained  from  this  same  Marshall  and  a 
white  man,  to  prove  that  General  Mclntosh  refused  his 
assent;  General-Games  immediately  comes  to  the  conclu- 
sion that  this  assent  was  never  given. 

The  admission  of  free  communication  with  the  Indians, 
to  every  other  description  of  persons,  and  the  denial  of  it 
to  the  Georgia  Commissioners,  was  a  further  wrong  done 
to  Georgia. 

Indeed,  sir,  it  would  appear,  from  the  reports  of  the 
Commissioners,  that  all  or  any  description  of  testimony 
would  be  willingly  received  on"  the  one  side,  and  particu- 
larly that  description  of  it  which  would  exculpate  the  Agent, 
excuse  the  hostile  Indians,  prevent  the  survey  of  the  lands, 
or  effect  the  abrogation  of  the  treaty ;  and  that  on  the 
other  side  everything  was  to  be  discredited,  or  received,  at 
best,  with  many  grains  of  allowance,  and  every  act  or  pro- 
ceeding of  the  Commissioners  of  the  United  States,  or  of 
the  constituted  authorities  of  the  State,  resolved  into  cor- 
ruption and  depravity. 

When  General  Gaines  states,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  the 
Governor,  that  the  hostile  party  outnumber  the  friendly,  in 

49 


386  I'I*'E  OF  GEORGE  M.   TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

the  proportion  of  something  like  lilry  to  ..no,  it  is  not  easy 
to  understand  him.  It'  it  be  true,  us  the  General 
believe,  that  he  has  pacified  and  reconciled  the  two  parties, 
there  is  no  longer  any  Mclntosh  party — hut  it'  the  General 
means  there  w;;-  any  such  disproportion  between  the 
strength  of  the  t\v<>  parties,  whilst  Mclntosh  lived,  he  is 
widely  mistaken.  It'  Melntosh  had  survived  to  this  mo- 
ment, the  probability  is  liis  ].arty  would  have  been  the 
strongest. 

Suffer  me  to  add  a  lew  particulars,  which  make  the 
condition  of  the  friendly  party  most  pitiable.  Independ- 
ently of  no  atonement  being  ..ii'ered  for  the  blood  of 
ATcIiito-h,  the  money,  according  to  the  construction  of  the 
1  taken  from  the  pockets  of  the  wive-,  children, 
brothers  and  friends  of  Mrlnto>h.  and  paid  over  to  tin; 
:le  Chiefs  who  murdered  him,  contrary  to  every  prin- 
ciple of  justice  and  stipulation  of  troa:  ;.  on  intended 
it  as  the  reward  of  gallant  and  mcrito:  -  commanded 
by  your-  and  this  the  friendly  Chiefs  cannot  but  feel 
most  deeply.  Nobody  acquainted  with  the  Indian  charac- 
ter, can  ever  believe  that  General  Gaines  will  ever  make 
either  a  safe  or  pernuuu-n;  pacification  until  the  otfe 
of  blood  for  blood  has  fulfilled  the  law  and  the  '  the 
country.  An  ephemeral  peace  may  be  patched  up  by  ibree, 
or  menace — but  ephemeral  it  will  be,  making,  in  the 
the  catastrophe  the  more  bloody. 

I  had  written  you  of  a  certain  personage  of  South  Caro- 
lina having  intermeddled  in  this  matter,  according  to 
information  communicated  to  me  and  submitted  to  you. 
There  is  a  strong  chain  of  corroborative  circumstance-. 
you  will  see,  to  establish  the  facts  there  alleged,  and 
running  through  the  entire  mass  of  evidence.  The  object 
undoubtedly  was  the  annulment  of  the  treaty. 

Whatever  knavery  or  folly  may  suggest,  with  the  view 
to  disannul  the  treaty,  will,  of  course,  be  unheeded  at 
"Washington.  Hut,  indeed,  Sir.  I  very  much  doubt,  u:. 
you  have  looked  with  a  scrutinizing  eye-  to  the  history  of 
this  matter,  whether  some  of  the  self-interested  oppugners 
of  the  treaty  may  not  lead  you  into  error.  The  idea  that 
the  entire  Creek  Nation  is  alone  competent  to  make  a 
treaty,  is  the  most  fallacious  that  could  be  entertained  ;  it 
is  so  far  from  true  in  the  general,  that,  unless  by  merest 
accident,  it  never  happens  to  be  true  in  any  particular. 

Von  have  only  to  turn  to  the  notes  of  Col.  Hawkins, 
whose  authority  you  cannot  dispute,  to  be  satislied  that. 
according  to  the  laws  and  usages  of  the  Nation,  the  most 


CHAP.  XL]  LETTER  CONTINUED.  38T 

important  public  affairs,  involving  vital  interests,  are  de- 
termined, not  by  a  majority,  but  by  a  minority,  and  fre- 
quently a  small  minority  of  the  Nation.  In  the  whole 
course  of  his  long  residence  among  them,  he  never  knew 
the  most  popular  war  concurred  in  by  a  majority;  and  all 
authorities  and  all  custom  will  prove  to  you,  that,  with 
regard  to  the  most  important  of  their  national  acts,  having 
relation  either  to  peace  or  war,  Coweta  must  take  the  lead. 
If  a  treaty  be  signed  by  the  Chiefs  of  Coweta,  it  is  consid- 
ered good — if  not  signed  by  them,  good  for  nothing.  Geor- 
gia was  settled  in  '32* :  in  '33  or  '34  the  first  treaty  with 
the  Creeks  was  held  ;  then  I  think  in  '36,  and  again  in  '39. 
The  Cowetas  are  always  foremost ;  their  councils  are  invari- 
ably holden  on  the  Coweta  ground,  and  Gen.  Oglethorpe 
paid  them  his  first  visit  there.  Hence,  it  is  stated,  in  the 
evidence,  that  Mclntosh  had  the  power  to  sell  the  whole 
country,  and  hence  the  great  efforts  made  to  prevail  on  the 
old  Coweta  Chief,  Etome  Tustunnuggee,  not  to  sell  the 
.country — efforts  which  succeeded  at  Broken  Arrow  ;  but 
this  old  and  ill-fated  chieftain  came  to  me,  afterwards, 
as  you  read  in  the  documents,  to  say  he  had  been  deceived 
by  bad  white  men,  and  was  opposed  to  the  sale  at  Broken 
Arrow,  but  then  his  eyes  were  opened,  and  he  would  fol- 
low the  advice  of  his  Father,  the  President,  and  sell  the 
lands. 

Having  made  this  recapitulation  and  commentary,  permit 
me  to  subjoin,  that,  for  the  gratification  of  a  few  mercenary 
and  sordid  characters  in  the  Indian  country,  you  threaten 
the  most  flagrant  injustice  to  Georgia. 

In  the  country  to  be  surveyed,  within  the  limits  of  Geor- 
gia, none,  or  very  few,  of  the  hostile  party  reside  ;  and 
every  one  of  the  opposite  party  seeks  the  survey  as  a 
measure  of  convenience  and  interest.  The  survey  will, 
in  the  first  instance,  extend  no  further  "West  than  the 
Chattahoochee,  the  act  of  the  Legislature  leaving  it  dis- 
cretionary with  the  Governor,  to  run  to  that  river  before 
the  boundary  line  between  Georgia  and  Alabama  shall 
have  been  ascertained. 

Having  corresponded  with  the  Governor  of  Alabama 
upon  tin's  subject,  and  received  his  assurance  that  the  Legis- 
lature of  that  State  will  immediately,  on  its  first  meeting 
in  November,  cordially  co-operate  with  Georgia  in  running 
the  line,  and  there  being  difficulty  in  ascertaining  the  pre- 
cise point  at  which  that  line  will  commence,  the  running  is 

*    Georgia  was  settled  in  1733.— ED. 


388  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

postponed  to  meet  the  wishes  and  expectations  of  the  State 
of  Alabama. 

The  evidence  which  remains  to  be  taken  by  the  Commis- 
sioners, will  be  forwarded  as  soon  as  received. 

It  will  be  remembered  that,  in  his  letter  of  15th  August, 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,  the  Governor  authorized  that 
officer  to  "  inform  the  President  that,  until  the  will  of  the 
Legislature  of  Georgia  i-  .  measures  will  be 

taken  to  execute  the  survey."     This].-.;  .  tor  the  time, 

to   one   irritating  cause  of  controversy.     On  the 
August,  the  Secretary  wrote  to  t!.  nor,  acknowledg- 

ing, for  the  President,  the  receipt  of  certain  letters  from 
him,  with  their  enclosures,  cV;c.,  and  stating  that  whil>t  the 
President  deeply  regretted  the  different  views  of  the  t: 
which   the   Governor  entertained,    from  those  which  the 
President  had  "  found  himself,   upon  the  most  delilu 
consideration,"  &c.,  "compelled  to  take,  he  is  anxiously 
desirous  to  avoid  anything   which,   dictated  by   no  . 
lute  necessity,  might  have  a  tendency  to  widen  differences, 
in  his  belief  otherwise  easily  reconcilable,"  &c.,  Arc.     He 
stated,  further,  that  the  President  "  felt  it,  therefore,  his 
duty  to  decline  entering  upon  any  discussion  with  you  which 
can  be  forborne,  and  he  perceives  nothing  in  your  It 
which  the  interests  of  the  people  of  Georgia,  or  of  the  rest 
of  the  Union,  require  to  be  discussed  wit]  Arc.,  &c. 

After  referring  to  the  duties  which  the  United  States  owed 
to  the  Indians,  and  expressing  the  President's  hope  that 
they  had  not  been  "  violated  in  the  conclusion  of  the 
treaty  at  the  Indian  Springs,"  he  added  :  "lie  lias  heard, 
therefore,  with  the  most  lively  sat  inaction,  the  determina- 
tion of  your  Excellency  to  proceed  no  further  in  the  survey, 
till  the  Congress  of  the  United  States  and  the  Legislature 
of  Georgia  shall  have  had  an  opportunity  of  acting  on  the 
subject,  as,  in  their  respective  ju<i  .  the  rights, 

duties  and  obligations  of  all  the  parties  concerned,  may 
require."  lie  referred  to  the  death  of  Mclntosh,  the 
restoration  of  peace  to  the  tribe,  and  stated  that  to  "  con- 


CHAP.  XI.]  GEN.  GAINES'  LETTER.  389 

firm  this  state  of  tranquillity,  and  to  renew  peaceable  and 
reasonable  efforts  to  reconcile  the  Indians  to  the  measure 
of  removing  from  the  territory,  appeared  to  the  President 
to  be  his  duty,  in  which  he  will  not  abandon  the  hope  of 
being  seconded  by  the  Governor  and  authorities  of  Geor- 
gia." He  concluded  by  saying :  "  The  subject,  in  all  its 
aspects,  will  be  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  Congress 
at  the  approaching  session  ;  and  all  the  instructions  of  the 
officers  of  the  United  States,  as  well  as  their  conduct 
under  them,  will  be  subject  to  the  animadversions  of  that 
body  upon  them,  for  approbation  or  censure,  as  they  may 
appear  to  have  deserved." 

We  must  now  recur,  once  more,  to  Gen.  Gaines.  Hav- 
ing been  forbidden  to  hold  official  intercourse  with  the 
Governor,  he  nevertheless  proceeded  to  write  insulting 
letters  to  him,  through  the  newspapers.  On  the  23d  of 
August,  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Governor,  through  the 
columns  of  the  Georgia  Journal,  dated  "  Head-quarters, 
Eastern  Department,  Indian  Springs,  16th  August,  1825," 
and  signed  "Edmund  Pendleton  Gaines,  Major-General 
Commanding"  "We  make  room  for  a  few  extracts,  at 
which  the  reader  will  be  amused,  if  he  is  not  instructed  by 
them.  He  said :  "  I  had  seen  with  regret  that  for  a  II.  S. 
officer  to  write  to  you,  was,  in  fact,  to  write  for  the  news- 
papers, and  that  to  differ  from  you  in  opinion,  was  to  be 
denounced  as  an  offender.  Since  this  was  apparent  to  me, 
that  is,  since  the  receipt  of  yours  of  the  17th  July,  I  have 
been  well  aware  of  the  tax  which  our  little  differences  of 
opinion  would  impose  upon  me — a  tax  which  conscious 
innocence  suffers  under  the  groundless  imputation  of  guilt- 

"  I  was  not,  therefore,  much  surprised  at  the  gross  mis- 
representations of  your  dedimus  protestatem  Commission- 
ers, nor  at  the  concluding  paragraph  of  yours  of  the  6th, 
wherein  you  say,  '  I  have  lost  no  time  to  direct  you  to 
forbear  further  intercourse  with  this  Government.'  These 
expressions,  like  others  contained  in  some  of  your  previous 
letters,  (but  of  which  I  took  no  notice,)  wherein  you  speak 


390  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

of  ray  using  the  military  against  Georgia,  &c.,  &c..  appear 
to  evince  a  very  high  degree  of  that  prejudice  and 
pride  of  office,  which  might  well    he  expected   t.i  prompt 
some  little  European  despot '  to  feel  power  and  forget  right.' 
Were  you  some  little  German    Prinr.  \ample,   (the 

most  self-important  and  ".ring  of  all    the  crowned 

tribe,)  and  I  a  Turk,  it  would  in  that  ca-=e  excite  no  surprise 
that  the  little  German  Prince  should  address  the  Turk  .as. 
you  have  more  than  once  addressed   me,   and. 
indulging  in  words  of  learned  length  and  thundering  sound, 
conclude  with  tl:  './.:     'Ihavt 

lost  no  time  t<>  il'trect  you  tof<. 

•'.*     Hut   I   am   not  a  Turk,  nor  are   you    a 
prince!      I  am  a  plain  native  of  Virginia,  and  an 
citizen  of  T 

On  the  oOth  of  .          published    another  letter,  in 

the  (  lated  the  2'.'th,  and  headed  and  signed 

in  the  same  military  style.  lie  said:  k' I  have  received 
your  communication  through  Mr.  Secretary  Pierce,  with 
two  p-ipcrs  pur]'  •  lie  copie-  of  letter,  i'ro;u  your 

Excellency  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  bearing 
date  the  i^Jth  July  and  (>th  August— wherein  it  appears 
you  are  pleased  to  write  •  '  .  notwithstanding 

your  avowed  resolution   not  to  write  i<>  in,.     To  ihi- 
expedient,  to  preserve  the  immense  weight  of  dignity  un- 
der which  your  Excellency  labors,  I  can  have  no  objer 
I   take  this   occasion,   before   noticing  your  assumed 
and  argunic-  -nre  you   that   I  have    710   authority 

whatever  from  the  Proident  of  the  United  States  or  De- 
partment of  War,  to  write  or  speak  to  you  upon  any  other 
than  public  and  official  subjects — such  as  1  have  with  per- 
fect frankness  and  cordiality  communicated  to  yon,  pre- 
vious to  the  ivceipt  of  your  letter  of  the  17th  July/' 
Again:  " To  your  Excellency  I  have  no  apology  to  oiler. 
I  propose,  however,  that,  in  our  future  correspondence, 
after  disposing  of  your  futile  charges  again-t  me.  that  you 
and  I  may  confine  ourselves  in  owf  jnthlic  and  oJ/: 
duties.  When  these  are  accomplished,  I  hereby  promise, 


CHAP.  XL]  FURTHER  ABOUT  GEN.  GAINES.  391 

should  you  desire  it,  to  correspond  with  you,  unofficially, 
until  '  we  shall  have  exhausted  the  argument ;'  and  then 
we  will  stand  by  our — goose  quills,  and  talk  of  '  valor' — 
about  which  you  have  written  to  the  President." 

The  Governor  wrote,  as  follows,  to  the  President : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,      \ 
Milledgeville,  31st  Aug.,  1825.  j 

Sir  :  In  the  enclosed  Gazette,  you  will  find  another  in- 
solent letter,  dated  the  16th  inst.,  addressed  by  your  Agent, 
Brevet  Major-General  Gaines,  to  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  this 
State.  Having  been  betrayed  by  his  passions  into  the  most 
violent  excesses,  he  is  presented  before  you,  at  this  moment, 
as  your  commissioned  officer  and  authorized  agent,  with  a 
corps  of  regulars  at  his  heels,  attempting  to  dragoon  and 
overawe  the  constituted  authorities  of  an  independent  State, 
and.  on  the  eve  of  a  great  election,  amid  the  distractions  of 
party,  taking  side  with  the  one  political  party  against  the 
other,  and  addressing  electioneering  papers  almost  weekly 
to  the  Chief  Magistrate,  through  the  public  prints,  couched 
in  language  of  contumely  and  insult,  and  defiance,  and  for 
which,  were  I  to  send  him  to  you  in  chains,  I  would  trans- 
gress nothing  of  the  public  law.  The  same  moderation 
and  forbearance  with  which  I  have  endeavored  heretofore 
to  deport  myself,  in  my  intercourse  with  you,  and  from 
which  I  trust  there  has  in  no  instance  been  a  departure,  but 
on  the  highest  necessity,  have  restrained  me  from  resorting 
to  harsh  and  offensive  measures  against  him.  You  will  see, 
however,  if  this  officer  has  been  thus  acting  by  your 
authority  or  countenance,  you  have  an  awful  atonement  to 
make,  both  to  your  contemporaries  and  to  posterity. 

But  if,  contrary  to  either,  he  has  assumed  the  responsi- 
bility, it  is  expected  that  your  indignant  reprobation  of  his 
conduct  will  be  marked  by  the  most  exemplary  punishment 
which  the  laws  will  enable  you  to  inflict. 

I  demand,  therefore,  as  Chief  Magistrate  of  Georgia,  his 
immediate  recall,  and  his  arresr,  trial  and  punishment,  un- 
der the  rules  and  articles  of  war. 

You  will  find,  in  the  same  paper,  sundry  affidavits  prov- 
ing the  falsity  of  the  certificate  given  by  Marshall  and 
Edwards  to  General  Gaines,  and  which  further  prove  that 
General  Gaines  must  have  obtained  it  to  wield  as  an  in- 
strument, in  the  pending  contest,  on  the  side  of  one  party 
against  the  other.  As  1  write  this,  another  Gazette  has 


392  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  XI. 

been  put  into  my  hand-,  containing  anotlier  letter,  of  sub- 
sequent date  and  similar  character,  which  enclosed 
for  your  information. 

Very  Respectfully, 

G.  M.  TKO 

The  President  of  the  United 
Washington  City. 

To  this  letter  the  Governor  received  a  reply  from  the 
Secretary  of  War,  dated  I'.'th  September,  saying: 

"The  Presiden  Med  that  he  cannot,  consistently 

with  his  views  of  the  su"  -ede  to  your  demand  to 

have  General  Gainee  arrested.  He  perceive-  no  sufficient 
necessity  to  depart  from  th«-  >e  had  determined  to 

])ursue  before  the  receipt  «>f  your  letter,  and  which  I  <• 
municated  to  yon  fully  in  the  last  paragraph  of  mine  of  the 
31st  of  August,"  &c.,  iVc. 

In  this  letter,  the  Secretary  enc!  the  Governor)  a 

copy  of  his  letter  of  same  date,  to  Gen.  (iaines,  and  said: 
"In  so  doing,  I  give  yon  a  new  proof  of  the  frankness  by 
which  the  Executive  has  been  guided  in  its  intercourse  with 
you,"  etc.,  Arc. 

In  his  letter  to  Gen.  Gaines,  the  Secretary  enclosed  a 
copy  of  Gov.  Tn  nip's  letter  demanding  the  General's  a: 
&c.,  and,  after  adding  that  the  President  had  decided  not 
to  "  accede  to  this  demand,"  and  expressing  the  President's 
regret  that  General  Gaines  had  permitted  himself  to 
"  indulge  a  tone  whose  effect  will  be  to  destroy  that 
harmony  which  the  President  is  so  much  disposed  to 
cherish,"  &c.,  &c.,  and  the  President's  determination  to 
preserve  the  most  scrupulous  decorum  in  official  inter- 
course with  the  State  authorities,  he  said  : 

"In  communicating  to  yon  the  disapprobation  of  the 
President,  as  well  for  writing  as  publishing  those  lei 
and  his  injunction  that,  in  your  official  intercourse  with 
Gov.  Troup,  in  future,  you  abstain  from  anything  that  may 
be  deemed  offensive,  1  am  directed  to 'add,  as  an  act 
of  justice  to  you,  that  the  President  sees  in  the  serious 
charges  made  against  you  by  Gov.  Troup,  and  the  pub- 
licity given  to  them,  and  which  the  letters  complained  of 
were  intended  to  repel,  circumstances  which  go  far,  in 


CHAP.  XL]  AFFIDAVITS  ABOUT  GEN.  GAINES.  393 

his  opinion,  to  palliate  your  conduct,  and  without  which 
palliation  the  President  would  have  found  it  his  duty  to 
have  yielded  to  the  demand  of  Gov.  Troup." 

The  next  letter  from  Governor  Troup  to  the  Secretary 
of  War,  will  close  our  notice  of  this  dispute  with  General 
Games.  In  that  letter  he  is  charged  by  the  Governor  with 
having  aided  in  publicly  traducing  and  vilifying  him,  "  for 
the  purpose  of  influencing  the  general  election  in  this 
State,  in  behalf  of  his  favorite  candidate."*  This  was  de- 
nied by  Gen.  Gaines,  in  a  card  published  in  the  Georgia 
Patriot  of  13th  September,  in  which  he  said  :  "  I  have 
never,  to  my  knowledge,  endeavored  to  influence  the  vote 
or  the  political  opinion  of  any  man  in  the  State  of  Geor- 
gia, in  regard  to  the  ensuing  election."  And  yet  there 
was  the  affidavit  of  one  Michael  Watson,  who  deposed, 
on  the  10th  of  November,  that  in  the  month  of  August, 
"in  a  conversation  that  was  held  between  and  among 
several  persons  then  at  the  Springs,  General  Edmund  P. 
Gaines,  of  the  United  States  Army,  being  present,  the 
subject  of  conversation  turned  upon  the  late  Indian  treaty, 
and  the  proposed  survey  then  about  to  be  made  by  the 
order  of  his  Excellency  George  M.  Troup,  Governor  of 
the  State  of  Georgia :  he  (Gen.  Gaines)  stated  in  public 
company,  that  if  Governor  Troup  made  the  survey  or  at- 
tempted it,  that  he  would  be  tried  for  treason  and  hung ; 
that  General  Gaines  also  stated  that  Governor  Troup  and 
his  friends  were  intriguing  demagogues:  that  in  the  same 
conversation  General  Gaines  manifested  and  expressed 
much  warmth  of  hostile  feeling  towards  Governor  Troup 
and  his  friends,"  &c.  The  Hon.  Christopher  B.  Strong, 
deposing,  probably  to  the  same  occasion,  said : 

*    At   a  dinner  to  Gen.  Gaines,  at  Clinton,  on  17th  August,  1825,  the  following  were 
among  the  partisan  volunteer  toasts : 

His  Excellency  Governor  Troup:    A  man  of  war  I     He  "caves  for  no  responsibilities;"  a 
bravo  a  knight  as  Don  Quixote  or  his  squire  Sancho  Panza. 

Gen.  John  Clark  :  A  former  trouble  to  the  Indians—  a  present  trouble  to  some  of  their 
kindred. 

Gen.  John  Clark  :    Too  honest  for  intrigue,  too  independent  to  entreat  for  office,    b 
always  willing  to  servo  his  country;  may  he,  on  tho  first  Monday  in  October,  be  elected 
Governor  by  the  people  of  Georgia,  and  not,  like  the  present  incumbent,  by  bribery  and 
corruption. — ED. 

50 


39-i  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

"On  the  llth  day  of  August,  in  the  year    ls2.*>,   at  the 
Indian  Springs,  in  the  County  of  Monroe,  of  said  State,  lu; 
heard  a  conversation  commence  between  Gen.  Edmund  P. 
Gaines,  of  the  United  States  army,  arid  Milton   Gnopi 
Putnam,  in   which   General   Gainc-s  appeared   to   nun: 
much]);,  ad,  after  this  deponent  got  near  enough  to 

hear  what  was  said,  he  heard  the  said  General   Bay,   '  lie  is 
•iiuuroirue,  hi  OB  are  dema^o^ues — unprincipled 

den;;  .  iiiilty  of  id   the  ( 'ommis- 

sione.  wisely,' or  words  to  that  i 

I  was  informed  !  :iilcmen  then  present,  that  the 

former  epithets  v.  '.  in  relation  and  applied   to  < 

Tron  .  J    ensued  betwixt 

the  General  and  .  Inch  I  deem  it  unne<v>-ary  here 

:-tail.     'i  nent  further  saitli,  that,  from  what 

:  that  time,  he  has  no  doubt  but  that  the  iirst  men- 
tioned expr---  by  Gen.  Gaines 
in  direct  relation  to  *  •  Troup." 

Joel  Hailey  also  de]>osed  tliat,  in  the  month  of  .Fuly, 

;•    he   dar.'d    G.i\  ernOT  'IVoup   to 
attem])t  to  survey  the  land  lai  1  by  the  Indians:  that 

i  am-; 

as  fast  as  they  crossed  Flint  ri\\-r.     That  if  i  rnor 

of  the  little   des;.  or^ia   did   not  mind, 

that  he  (Gaines)  would  ^ct  hold  of  him,  and  that  the 
ir^-ia  w 

Without    p.  decide  whether  these  affidavits 

proved  Gen.  Gaines  to  have  been  an  active  partisan  of  the 
opposition,  we  think  it  clear  that  the  influence  of  his  name 
and  character  was  against  the  administration  of  Governor 
Tronp;  and,  consequently,  operated  in  favor  of  hi-  • 
We  must  do  him  the  justice  to  say  that,  in  his  card  in  the 
Georgia  Patriot,  he  said  :  ttas   I  have  been  charged,  how- 
'.•ly,  with  an  attempt  to  meddle  with  the  political 
affairs  of  the  State,  with  ;•.   view  to  the  ensuing  election,  I 
have  determined  to  suspend  the  publication  of  my  pron.' 
exposition  until  after  the  election." 

Governor  Ti'o>-j>  tot',,    Secretary  «f   \\'<ir. 

EXECUTIVE    I  )i  I-AIHM 
MiUedgemUe,  l.V//  Oct.,  18kJ 
Sir:     Notwithstanding  the  resolution  of  the  Pre-idrnt, 


CHAP.  XL]      LETTER  TO  SECRETARY  OF  WAR.         395 

repeated  in  your  letter  of  the  19th  ult,  to  refer  the  com- 
plaints of  this  Government  against  the  officers  of  yours, 
who  have  given  it  offence,  to  the  consideration  of  Con- 
gress— a  resolution  considered  here  of  most  .extraordinary 
character,  inasmuch  as  it  is  the  transfer  of  a  subject  over 
which  the  President,  by  the  Constitution,  has  exclusive  ju- 
risdiction, to  a  power  which  has  no  jurisdiction  of  it  at 
all — I  cannot  forbear  calling  his  attention  to  a  statement 
contained  in  your  letter  to  Gen.  Gaines,  which,  assumed  to 
be  true,  although  not  true,  is  made  the  justification  of  the 
President  in  resisting  the  demand  of  the  Governor  of  Geor- 
gia, and  in  extenuating  the  conduct  of  his  officer.  The  par- 
agraph in  your  letter  embracing  the  statement,  reads  as 
follows:  "  I  am  directed  to  add,  as  an  act  of  justice  to 
you,  that  the  President  sees  in  the  serious  charges  made 
against  you  by  Governor  Troup,  and  the  publicity  given  to 
them,  and  which  the  letters  complained  of  were  intended 
to  repel,  circumstances  which  go  far  in  his  opinion  to  pal- 
liate your  conduct."  ISTow,  sir,  so  far  from  this  being  true, 
the  opposite  is  true.  Nothing  offensive  or  exceptionable 
was  ever  written  to  that  officer,  before  he  had  sanctioned, 
by  his  approbation,  an  offensive  letter  written  by  your 
Special  Agent  on  the  21st  June,  and  addressed  to  the 
Agent  for  Indian  Affairs,  in  which  the  authorities  of  Geor- 
gia are  wantonly  abused  for  injustice,  oppression  and 
tyranny  practiced  against  that  Agent;  or  before  he  had  ob- 
tained a  false  certificate  from  two  base  and  unworthy  men, 
to  traduce  and  vilify  the  character  of  the  Chief  Magistrate 
of  Georgia,  which  lie  ordered  to  be  published  of  his  mere 
volition,  on  pretence  that  false  rumors  were  in  circulation, 
of  what,  or  about  whom,  he  does  not  say ;  and  this,  too, 
done,  as  was  afterwards  made  manifest,  for  the  purpose  of 
influencing  the  general  election  in  this  State  in  behalf  of 
his  favorite  candidate.  That  you  may  entertain  no  doubt 
of  the  correctness  of  this  statement,  and  the  incorrectness 
of  the  statement  of  the  President,  you  have  only  to  com- 
pare the  dates  of  the  various  letters  and  of  their  publica- 
tion. It  will  be  seen  that  before  Gen.  Gaines  could  have 
received  my  letter  of  the  16th  of  July,  of  which  he  com- 
plained, he  had  already  ordered  the  publication  of  his  of 
the  lOth  of  July,  to  which  it  was  an  answer. 

You  will  be'  furnished,,  in  time,  with  additional  testi- 
mony, to  show  the  very  reprehensible  conduct  of  the  same 
officer,  in  his  deportment  towards  the  authorities  of  Geor- 
gia, not  with  any,  the  least,  expectation  that  justice  will  be 


396  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

rendered   by   the   President   to  those   authorities,  but  in 
discharge  of  duties  which  they  owe  themselv. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be 

Your  obedient  servant, 

G.  M.  THOU  P. 
The  Hon.  James  Barbour. 
Secretary  of  War. 

The  Southern  Recorder,  of  the  9th  of  August,  contained 
a  card  "to  the  public,"  from  Col.  Orowell,  to  which  was 
appended  the  following  letter  : 

MlLLSDGKVTLLB,  GBO.,   AuglM    1st,   18! 
Sir:     1  acknowledge   the    receipt  of  your   defence,   ac- 
companied by  the  testimony  collected  to  ivlmt  the.  cha 
preferred  against  yon  by    his   Excellency  Governor  Troup, 

as  \\ell  as  the  testimony  taken  against  you  by  a  committee, 
of  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  and  that  interspersed  through- 
out the  volume  of  documents  furnished  me  l.y  the  (Jovern- 
or  of  Georgia. 

After  a  diligent  examination  of  all  the  testimony  taken 
on  both  sides  during  the  investigation,  and   coming  1. 
me,  I  feel  it  incumbent  on  me  to  say  that  I  r-o:  sideryoii,  in 
reference  to  the  charge^  made  against  yon,  not  only  an  in- 
nocent, but  a  much  injmed,  man.     This  result  is  the  more 
honorable  to  you,  as  you  have  only  had  it  in  your  pou< 
avail  vourself  of  r»l unturt/  testimony. 

I  shall   make   this   report""'   to   the  Secietary   of  War,  to 
whom    you    will   look   for   the  decision  of  tl:.'   I'rc-ident, 
which  will  confirm  or  reverse  this   opinion.      In   the   mean 
time  you  will  consider  your  suspension  withdrawn. 
With  respect,  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant, 

T.  P.  Axni: 

Special  Agent. 
To  Colonel  John  Crowell, 

Indian  Agent,  &c.,  &c. 

It  is  proper  here  to  state  the   President  coi<v'iin»'   this 
report. 
In  September,  Major  Andrews  published, in  the  National 

*  The  Report  of  Major  Andrews  to  tl;  <,f  War,  with 

to  it,  occupies  more  th:m  l.'iO  jm-v-i  of  pi  int^l  niiitt.-r.  in  pel  ,  i:h  tlic 

-ion  of  opinion  in  regiird  to  Col.  Crowell,  the  Indian  Ajri'tit,  tlmt  "  !i>'  li;i^  lully  ~u. 
in  establishing  his  entire  innocence  of  th  I'.-rn-d  ugi.inst  liiin."—  lii>. 


CHAP.  XI.]  CANVASS  FOR  GOVERNOR.  397 

Journal  and  the  National  Intelligencer,  a  long  "  reply"  to 
what  he  called  the  "  Re|  orts  of  the  Georgia  Commission- 
ers," in  which  he  was  very  severe  in  his  strictures  upon  the 
official  conduct  of  those  gentlemen,  and  in  which  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  attack  their  characters  as  men,  &c.,  &c. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  canvass  for  Governor  was  proceed- 
ing with  much  acrimony  and  bitterness.  The  papers 
teemed  with  articles  of  great  warmth  on  both  sides. 
"  TKOUP  AND  THE  TsEATY5'  was  the  rallying  cry  of  the  friends 
of  the  Governor,  whilst  it  was  contended  by  his  enemies 
that  his  defeat  was  necessary  to  the  repose  of  the  country 
and  the  peaceful  settlement  of  the  Indian  controversy.  As 
early  as  the  4th  of  July,  the  celebration  of  the  day  was 
made  the  occasion  of  what  were  considered  patriotic  out- 
bursts, but  what  were,  in  many  instances,  the  offspring  of 
party  violence  and  heated  controversy.* 

Amongst  other  objections  to  Governor  Troup,  it  was  said 
his  father  had  been  a  Tory  ;  and  then  it  was  said  General 
Clark's  father  was  no  better.  Gov.  Troup  was  charged 
with  being  an  alien  ^  born  in  Florida  ;  General  Clark  was 
accused  of  being  a  Yazoo  man,  and  with  having  shot  at 
the  effigy  of  Washington.  It  is  hardly  important  to  add, 
that  none  of  these  charges  were  made  out  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  friends  of  the  candidate  against  whom  they  were 
urged. 

If  party  virulence  had  stopped  with  accusations,  which, 
if  true,  would  have  affected  the  fitness  for  office  or  useful- 
ness of  either  candidate,  there  would  have  been  ground  of 
excuse ;  but  political  rancor,  in  its  opposition  to  Governor 
Troup,  went  beyond  this.  His  domestic  privacy  was  as- 

*  The  folio-wing  toasts  drunk  on  the  4th  of  July,  at  an  interior  town,  cannot  be  consid- 
ered fair  specimens.  It  is  due  to  the  Clark  man  to  say  that,  in  a  card  which  he  afterwards 
published,  ho  declared  that  whilst  his  toast  expressed  "  the  sentiments  of  a  large  number," 
and  contained  his  real  opinion,  yet  he  would  not  have  given  it,  if  another  sentiment,  in  favor 
of  Gov.  Troup,  bad  not  been  first  offered  at  a  dinner  from  which  he  had  endeavored  to  keep 
out  party  politics.  Here  are  thcsentiments  : 

•  "  George  M.  Troup — May  he  receive  what  he  deserves,  the  infamy  due  to  every  man  who 
attempts  to  excite  civil  w.ir  and  destroy  the  Union." 

"  George  M.  Troup — May  every  hair  on  his  head  be  a  standing  army,  and  every  soldier  bo 
armed  with  a  thundering  cannon  to  drive  his  enemies  to  h — 11." — ED. 


398  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.   TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 


sailed  ;  and  it  was  basely  and  falsely  insinuated  l>y 
who  had  tho  cunning  to  do  secretly  what  they  had  not  the 
boldness  to  avow  openly,  that  the  ill  health  of  the  partner 
of  his  bosom  was  caused  by  conjugal  ill  treatment.  That 
some  dupes  may  have  believed  the  slander,  is  probaMy 
true;  but  the  high-minded  and  better  informed  even  of  his 
opponents  refused  to  lend  themselves  to  so  cruel  an  expe- 
dient to  defeat  an  honorable  man. 

Amidst  the  jarring  elements  of  discord,  and  the  turmoil  of 
a  fierce  party  war,  Governor  Troup  remained  as  unmoved 
as  it  was  possible  for  any  man  to  be,  under  the  circumstan- 
ces.    It  is  believed  that  not  the  slightest  detail  of  bus' 
escaped  his  attention  ;  and  we  have  certainly  seen  tin 
kept  the  Indian  question  in  full  view.      A  silly  rumor 
started,  that  he  was  to  be  withdrawn,  ami  lion.  "William  II. 
Crawford  run  in  hi>  stead.     A  short  time  before  the  elec- 
tion, his  health  became  somewhat  impaired,  and  it  was  at 
one  time  reported  that  he  was  dead. 

The  3rd  of  October  at  length  arrived.  If  public  excite- 
ment had  been  great,  public  expectation  and  anxiety  were 
now  to  be  greater.  The  Georgia  Journal,  of  the  llth  of 
October,  in  noticing  the  election,  said  : 

To  a  calm  and  indifferent  spectator,  Milledgeville,  for  the 
past  week,  would  have  furnished  a  wide  field  of  amuse- 
ment.    The  an.viety  visible  in  all  countenances,  the  avidity 
with  which  news  from  every  quarter  was  sought  after, 
hailing  of  post  riders,  and  the  stopping  of  travelers  as  thcv 
entered  the  town,  and  the,  multitude  crowding  around  ll 
all  pressing  forward  to  hear  the  result;  and  the  alter: 
elevation  and  depression  of  spirits  of  one  party  or  the  other, 
according  as  the  news  agreed  with,  or  differed  from,  what 
was   expected  —  all  together  made   up   a  spectacle    which 
equaled  anything  soon  in  Athens  on  the  invasion  \>y  Philip, 
or  in  Home  when  C:esar  was  marching  upon  it.     But  now 
all  is  comparatively  quiet.     The  result  is  anticipated  with 
much  confidence  to  be  in  favor  of  Troup. 

The  fame  paper,  of  the  Jsth,  announced  the  certain  re- 
election of  Gov.  Troup.  On  the  result  being  known  in 
Savannah,  the  citizens  fired  a  salute  in  honor  of  the  victorv  : 
and  another  was  fired  by  the  Chatham  Artillery,  of  which 


CHAP.  XL]  RESULT  OF  ELECTION1,  &c.  399 

ancient  corps  Gov.  Troup  had  been  formerly  a  regular,  and 

was  then  an  honorary,  member. 
There  were  in  Georgia,  at  that  time,  only  sixty  Counties. 

Governor  Tronp  had  resided  in  Mclntosh,  Chatham,  Bryan. 

Montgomery  and  Laurens  Counties.     The  vote  in  these 

Counties  was,  as  follows  : 

Mclntosh— Troup,  117— Clark,  83 

Chatham,         "  -     595         "  -      132 

Bryan,  "     -  125         "•     -  1 

Montgomery,  "  -     116         "  61 

Laurens,  "  475         "  111 

In  Wilkes,  the  former  residence  of  Gen.  Clark,  the  vote 

was  :     Troup,  669 ;  Clark,  644.     In  Baldwin,  the  residence 

of  Gen.  Clark,  and  where  each  had  resided  as  Governor, 

the  vote  stood  :     Troup,  317— Clark,  482. 

The  official  vote,  in  the  whole  State,  as  determined  by 

the  Legislature,  was  : 

Troup,    -  -    20,545 

Clark,  ....  .        19,862 


Maj  ority  for  Troup,  683 

The  General  Assembly  met,  at  Milledgeville,  on  the  7th 
of  November,  when  it  was  ascertained  that  a  majority,  in 
each  House,  Mere  political  friends  of  the  defatted  candidate. 
In  the  Senate,  Allen  B.  Powell,  of  Mclntosh,  was  elected 
President ;  and,  in  the  House,  Thomas  W.  Murray,  of 
Lincoln,  was  elected  Speaker. 

The  inauguration  of  the  Governor  took  place  on  the  10th 
of  November. 

His  inaugural  address  was,  as  follows : 

Fellow-Citizens  :  I  come,  once  more,  and  probably  for 
the  last  time,  to  present  myself  before  you  and  take  the 
oath  of  office.  Possessing  no  very  great  confidence  in  my 
own  qualifications  for  the  public  service,  I  have  not  habitu- 
ally or  pertinaciously  sought  the  public  favor.  It  has  been 
extended  to  me,  freely,  frequently,  and  by  the  people,  in  a 
spirit  of  abundant  kindness,  sometimes  even  in  advance, 
always  in  a  degree  far  transcending  my  merits  and  deserts. 
The  late  election  by  the  people,  approbatory  of  the  former 


400  L1FE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TRorr.  [('MAP.  XI. 

one  by  their  representatives,  inspires  a  belief  tliat  the  acts 
of  the  administration  have  not  been  altogether  censurable, 
and  that  the  faults  and  errors  which  belong  to  them,  being 
of  the  head,  not  of  the  heart,  have,  on  that  account,  re- 
ceived a  kind  and  indulgent  judgment 

Resolved,  as  I  am,  at  all  times,  to  do  what,  under  the 
constitution  and  laws,  my  judgment  approves,  it  will  be 
my  consolation,  in  the  midst  of  troubles  and  emhar 
ments,  that  what  is  intended  well,  will  be  well  received  ;  and 
that  if,  at  the  end  of  our  labors,  aught  shall  have  resulted 
to  the  public  of  benefit  or  advantag--.  a  due  measure  of 
praise  and  commendation  will  he  awarded.  Taking  dif- 
ferent views  of  the  same  subject,  honest  diil'e; 
opinion  are  to  In-  regarded  with  mutual  deference  and 
respect.  The  utmost  we  can  hope  from  our  deliberations 
under  free  institutions,  is,  that,  the  love  of  country  pre- 
dominating over  every  other  love,  we  will  discard  the 
partialities  ami  prejudices  which  attach  to  men,  and,  for- 
getting the  strifes  and  contentions  of  the  day,  will  unite 
in  support  of  every  measure  prmnotive  of  the  public  wel- 
fare. 

To  husband  the  resources  of  the  State  —  to  economi/e 
the  public  expenditure  —  to  organize  a  system  of  Internal 
Improvement  —  to  foster  the  institutions  which  direct  the 
public  Education  —  to  give  vigor  and  eiliciency  to  the 
armed  power  to  execute  the  laws  and  defend  the  >• 
against  her  enemies  —  to  vindicate,  with  firmness  and 
dignity,  all  her  rights  ;  but,  more  especially,  to  assert, 
practical  I  a,  those  rights  of  sovereignty  without  which 
Georgia  would  l>e  independent  only  in  name  ;  and  to  cul- 
tivate harmony  between  the  diil'e  rent  branches  of  the 
government,  will  be  equally  your  duty,  fellow-citizens,  a^ 
mine;  and,  by  cordial  co-operation  and  patriotic  efforts,  I 
doubt  not  we  will  ultimately  find  our  reward  in  the  happi- 
ness and  prosperity  of  the  people. 

The  following  is  the  message  of  the  Governor,  transmitted 
to  the  Legislature  on  the  second  day  of  the  session. 

I  )I::'.\I:TMI  NT.  ) 


Fellow-Citizens  of  the  Senate 
and   House  of  Rcpresentatt 

The  political  year  just  closed  has  not  been  without  bless- 
ings, or  without  trials.     Abundant  thankfulness  is  due  for 


CHAP.  XL]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1825.  401 

the  former,  to  the  Giver  of  every  good  and  perfect  gift, 
not  less  for  exemption  from  war,  pestilence  and  famine, 
than  for  the  enjoyment  of  more  than  ordinary  health, 
propitious  seasons,  and  an  ample  harvest.  For  the  hitter, 
as  they  belong  to  mortals,  it  is  our  holy  duty,  in  the  spirit 
of  Christian  resignation,  to  bow  with  reverential  submis- 
sion, and  to  implore  the  Omnipotent  who  orders  all  for  the 
best,  to  convert  them  into  blessings.  The  year  has  been 
rendered  memorable,  too,  by  the  sojourn  of  the  great  and 
amiable  LaFayette;  the  universal  joy  diffused  by  it — the 
display  of  all  the  charities  and  graces  of  life  in  the.  over- 
flowings of  grateful  hearts,  inseparable  from  his  presence, 
and  by  the  tears  of  millions,  when,  after  giving  to  our 
country  his  last  benediction,  he  re-embarked  for  his  native 
land. 

The  recapitulation  of  the  events  of  the  last  two  years — the 
results  of  our  intercourse  and  correspondence  with  the 
General  Government,  painful  as  it  may  be,  is  a  duty  too 
sacred  to  be  omitted.  In  performing  it,  no  apology  is  due 
for  the  prolix  detail,  so  inconsistent  with  the  analytical 
character  of  a  State  paper  like  this.  The  variety  of  topics, 
the  multitude  of  facts,  justify  a  departure  from  the  ordinary 
usage.  A  tedious  expose  may  be  more  acceptable  than  a 
superficial  survey,  as  the  contemplation  of  the  whole 
ground  will  enable  you  so  to  apply  the  resources  of  your  wis- 
dom and  patriotism  to  the  exigency,  as,  with  the  assistance 
of  Divine  Providence,  to  avert  the  mischiefs  which  threat- 
en, make  our  own  ways  righteous  in  our  own  sight,  and  in 
the  sight  of  all  others,  and  bring  back  to  a  sense  of 
justice  those  who,  in  their  aberrations  from,  it,  have  done 
us  wrong. 

I  had,  for  the  first  time,  come  into  office,  when  a  subject 
of  peculiar  delicacy  presented  itself,  and  being  intimately 
connected  with  the  independence  of  the  elective  franchise, 
without  which  it  would  be  vain  for  Georgia  to  claim  for 
herself  the  attributes  of  a  sovereign  State,  it  was  made 
known  to  the  President,  that,  on  the  occasion  of  the  elec- 
tion just  then  terminated,  an  officer  in  his  employ,  bearing 
a  high  and  dignified  commission,  au$  being  a  citizen  of 
another  State,  had  abandoned  his  post  to  mingle  in  the 
strifes  of  that  election  ;  had  espoused  the  cause  of  one  of 
the  parties,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  other,  and,  by  the 
weight  and  influence  of  his  office,  united  with  the  most 
enthusiastic  ardor,  had  rendered  himself  so  signally  con- 
spicuous, that  the  Chief  Magistrate  could  not  conscientiously 

51 


402  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [I'IIAP.  XI. 

forbear,  amo:  iain  to  the  Executive 

;t  rage  upon  the  most 

•(I  of  all   tli  vignty.     An  occasion  of- 

fered, ;it  the   moment,  t  •  ight   to   tlie   presentation, 

and  it  wa<  embraced.     T  >nary  Kstah- 

lishment.  iii  :  Fation,  had  been  provoked   by    the 

ill  iisa^e  and  lawless  conduct  to  prefer 

certain  char-  .:m,   which,  if  supported  by  truth, 

could  not  fail,  it  was  believed,  to  bring  noon  him  the  se\ 
animadversion  of  hit  ttt;  and  it  was  hoped 

that  the  :  the  Governor  of  :.  thrown 

into  the   scale,    •  iplish   what  seemed  to  him  an 

important  object,  the  removal  from  otlice  of  a  man,  who, 
by  his  prejudices  and  p  .  would  present  the  mo>t 

formidable   •  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  just  claims 

of  (.  the   (General   (iovernment,   at 

long  as  u  certain  .lletl  the  lir.-'  T  that   State. 

They  failed  of  their  intent  ;  and  whate\er  >entence  mi^ht 
liave  been  ]>assed  on  tht.*  memorial  of  the  Missionary,  the 
remonstrant--  .  ernor  0  a  was.  unlit-eded. 

The  infer  kble,  that,  in  virtue  either  of  jio>i- 

tive  instruction,  or  of  implied  con>ent,  the  Ai^eiit  of  Indian 
All'airs,  beini^  a  citi/en  of  another  State,  and  resident  in 
the  Xation,  wouhK  at  any  time,  consult  both  duty  and 
inclination  in  deserting  his  .-tatimi  to  lend  himself,  with  his 
^:iia  of  ofrice,  to  any  party  in  the  State,  whose  views 
it  might  be  the  interest  of  himself  or  of  his  Government 
to  promote. 

The  State  of  Georgui  had  claims  upon  !! 
eminent,  of  great  magnitude  ;  her  territorial  one-  had  been 
so  long  neglected,  that  time  seemed  to  be  running  against 
them.     Tlie  Indians  were  acquiring  a  permanency 
hold,  under  the  direct  enc..uragemeiit  of  the  1'nited  Slates, 
which   would   rivet  them    like  their  lixtnres  to  the  soil  tb]-- 
ever;  and  it  was  -seen  that  a  day  or  an  hour  was  of  precious 
import  to  her  whom  an  act  of  limitations  might  bar,  upon 
the  arbitrary  edict  of  a  stronger  power. 

When,   the:  :i    a   temper    not  discreditab! 

hoped,  to  the  author,  those  claims  were  pressed  upon  the 
General  Government,  it  was  answered  that  everything  had 
been  done,  which,  in  good  faith,  could  be  done,  to  satisfy 
the  claims  of  Q  ;1!1<1  that  now  nothing  could  be 

done,  because  the  Indians  had  said  nothing  should  be 
done.  An  answer  so  unkind,  ungenerous  and  faithless, 
left  no  alternative,  but  to  abandon  or  strenuously  assert 
them. 


CHAP.  XI.]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1825.  403 

It  was  vain  for  the  State  of  Georgia  to  prove  to  the 
United  States,  that,  regardless  of  her  claims,  they  had 
acquired  immense  tracts  of  country,  from  time  to  time,  for 
other  States  and  for  themselves,  and  that,  in  the  celebrated 
treaty  of  1814,  if  the  United  States  had  been  mindful  of 
their  engagements,  they  could  as  easily  have  acquired  the 
whole  country  within  our  limits  as  a  single  acre. 

By  the  treaty  of  1814,  the  Creeks  were  treated  as  a  con- 
quered people,  whom  Georgia  had  assisted  with  her  arms 
to  conquer  \  their  boundaries  were  marked  by  the  sword ; 
but  charity,  which  begins  at  home,  more  potent  than  any 
stipulations  of  the  articles  of  1802,  acquired  for  the  United 
States  a  very  large  extent  of  rich  country  within  the  limits  of 
Alabama,  whilst  twenty  millions  of  acres  within  the  limits 
of  Georgia  were  reserved  and  guarantied  to  the  Indians, 
and  this  guaranty  subsequently  produced  against  us  to  de- 
feat our  claim  to  the  same  territory.  Georgia  could  not 
see,  in  all  this,  that  scrupulous  fidelity  in  the  fulfilment  of 
engagements  asserted  for  the  United  States. 

AVlien,  at  last,  the  way  seemed  open  to  a  further  acquisi- 
sion  of  territory,  and  Commissioners  were  appointed  to 
negotiate  witli  the  Creeks,  at  Broken  Arrow,  Georgia  found 
the  Agents  of  the  United  States  arrayed  against  her  to 
defeat  a  treaty  :  so  that  it  was  difficult  to  understand 
whether  the  whole  movement  was  a  mockery,  to  sport 
with  Georgia,  or  a  perfidious  betrayal  by  the  Agents  of 
the  trust  reposed  in  them.  The  treaty  was  defeated,  and 
by  their  agency ;  the  principal  Agent  appeared  to  rise  in 
the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his  Government,  and  thus 
terminated  this  most  disgusting  scene. 

The  rehearsal  of  what  happened  immediately  after,  at  the 
Indian  Springs,  would  only  revive  recollections  _  of  the 
same  odious  practices  of  the  same  Agent,  not  less  disgrace- 
ful because  they  were  more  covert  and  less  successful. 
From  this  period  are  to  be  dated  all  the  mischiefs,  disorders 
and  heart-burnings  which  followed,  produced,  chiefly,  ^by 
the  conduct  of  the  same  officer.  But,  in  justice  to  him, 
it  should  be  said,  that,  from  this  period,  he  is  to  be  consid- 
ered rather  as  an  instrument  than  a  principal ;  as  his  own 
Government,  looking  back  upon  the  history  of  the  past, 
had  seemed  to  approve  his  actings  and  doings  in  the  gross, 
and  had  given  every  token  of  undiminished  confideuce_m 
him  ;  so  that,  from  that  day  thenceforth,  whatever  was  said, 
done  or  written  by  him,  seemed  good  in  its  sight.  No 
evil  report  of  him  would  be  listened  to  ;  the  word  oi  no 
man  taken  against  him ;  all  testimony  in  his  favor  eagerly 


404:  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

received,  all  against  him  promptly  discredited  :  the  ex- 
pre-scd  will  of  the  constituted  authorities  of  the  State, 
which  denounced  him  a-;  an  enemy  to  its  interest,  disre- 
ga^ded  by  his  Government,  ami  contemned  l>y  himself;  in 
short,  his  single  declaration  in  the  face  of  truth,  made  by 
that  Government  the  basis  of  the  most  offensive  measures 
again-t  this,  even  to  the  extreme  one  of  threatening  us  with 
the  sword,  and  actually  drawing  out  a  regular  force  for  its 
execution. 

The  history  of  the  treaty  of  1825.  and   the  character  of 
the  events  which  followed,  will  be  be>t  learned  by  the  doc- 
uments and  evidence  heretofore  published,  and  those  now 
laid  before  you.     The  epitome  is.    that    the   treaty   w; 
untainted  with  fraud    as  most   other    Indian    :  was 

made  with  an  authority  long  since  rccogni/ed  by  the  I  nited 
States  as  competent  !  d  in  at  first, 

by  the  great  body  of  the  Nation,  and  would  have, 
cheerfully  submitted  to  by  the  whole  tribe,  as  the  hostile 
Chief's  in  Council  indicated  to  Col.  Lamar,  if  the  . \irent 
had  nor  returned  from  his  mi>sion  to  Washington,  and 
altered  it.  It  was  this  ominous  return  from  his  defeat 
before  the  President  and  Senate,  in  which  Mclntosh  fore- 
Baw  the  ruin  which  an  infuriated  man  would  bring  upon 
him  and  his  generation.  "We  are  not  in  any  danger  until 
he  comes  home  and  commences  hostility,  and  urges  it  him- 
self upon  us,"  says  MclntOsh.  "  If  ratified,  (meaning  the 
treaty,)  it  may  produce  a  horrid  state  of  things  r.niong;'- 
Unfortunate  Indians,"  says  the  Agent.  What.  the.  penetrat- 
ing sagacity  of  the  one  foretold,  soon  came  to  pa-s.  Mc- 
Intosh  was  no  more  ;  and  thus  the  evil  genius  of  the  other, 
which  predicted  the  coming  of  the  whirlwind,  which  rode 
in  it,  and  directed  the  storm,  saw,  in  one  fell  swoop,  the 
triumph  of  his  machinations  and  the  fulfilment  of  his 
prophecy.  Mclntosh  and  his  Chi  _;:ven  their  a>sent 

to  the  survey  of  the  country,  and  this  assent  was  seized  by 
the  Agent  to  divert  the  public  odium  from  himself,  and 
to  fasten  it  on  the  Chief  Magistrate  of  Georgia,  who  had 
sought  and  obtained  that  assent.  The  naked  declaration  of 
the  Agent  to  this  effect,  unsupported  by  a  tittle  of  proof, 
v  as  sufficient  'to  command  the  absolute  credence  of  his 
Government,  and,  contrary  to  all  opposing  testimony  of  the 
most  conclusive  character,  to  warrant  it  in  charging  the 
calamities  of  the  nation  upon  the  same  magistrate  as  the 
author  of  them  all  ;  to  forbid  the  survey,  and  to  embody  a 
corps  of  regulars  to  prevent,  it,  and  to  continue  both  its 
offensive  orders  and  its  offensive  armament,  even  after 


CHAP.  XL]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OP   1825.  405 

another  of  its  Agents,  by  false  testimony,  had  proven,  to 
its  satisfaction,  that  no  such  assent  was  ever  given,  and  had 
announced  to  it,  moreover,  what  was  not  the  fact,  but 
what,  on  his  authority,  it  implicitly  believed  to  be  the  fact, 
that  the  pacification  of  the  Indians  had  been  concluded, 
and,  of  course,  order  and  tranquillity  permanently  restored  ; 
nevertheless,  the  offensive  mandate  is  unrevoked,  and  the 
parade  of  bayonets  maintained. 

The  Indian  right  of  occupancy  is  the  only  one  acknowl- 
edged by  the  European  powers,  from  the  beginning;  the 
only  one  acknowledged  by  all  the  public  instruments 
through  which  Georgia  derived  her  title  ;  the  only  one  con- 
ceded to  the  Indians  by  Georgia,  in  all  her  treaties  with 
them,  from  the  first  settlement  of  the  country,  and  the  only 
one  recognized  by  the  United  States  themselves. 

The  Spaniards  and  the  French,  without  respecting  even 
this  right,  have  forcibly  appropriated  to  themselves  entire 
countries,  when  and  where  it  suited  them.  The  English 
and  Americans  have  so  far  respected  it,  as  to  majce  com- 
pensation for  the  relinquishment  of  claim  or  abandonment 
of  use.  It  is  true,  that,  with  regard  to  this  right  of  use, 
the  United  States,  in  their  own  territory,  might  have  given 
to  it  any  latitude  which  pleased  them,  because  the  soil  and 
jurisdiction  belonged  to  them  ;  but,  with  regard  to  the  ter- 
ritory of  Georgia,  where  the  soil  and  jurisdiction  are  indis- 
putably hers,  this  right  of  use  can  only  be  construed  to 
mean,  what  in  all  the  treaties  it  did  mean,  the  right  of  use  for 
hunting.  When,  therefore,  the  United  States,  by  changing 
the  mode  of  life  of  the  aboriginal  upon  the  soil  of  Georgia, 
changed  essentially  this  right,  and  caused  her  lands  to  be 
separately  appropriated  for  the  purpose  of  tillage,  and  gave 
every  encouragement  to  fixed  habits  of  agriculture,  they  vio- 
lated the  treaties  in  their  letter  and  spirit,  and  did  wrong  to 
Georgia.  It  is  not  less  strange  than  true,  that,  of  all  the 
various  tribes  of  aborigines  dispersed  over  the  vast  country 
within  the  limits  of  the  United  States,  two  of  them,  within 
the  limits  of  Georgia,  have  been  specially  selected  as  most 
fit  subjects  for  the  operation  of  this  great  scheme  of  recla- 
mation, and  that  the  partial  success  of  this  scheme,  (found- 
ed in  wrong  to  Georgia,  and  continued  in  wrong,)  should 
be  held  up'to  us  now,  as  a  mirror  in  which  we  are  invited^ 
to  see,  at  once,  our  own  deformity  and  the  moral  beauty  of 
its  authors,  and  that  this  original  and  continued  wrong 
should  be  set  up  in  bar  of  our  undoubted  rights. 

The  State  of  Georgia  contends  that  the  jurisdiction  over 
the  country  in  question,  is  absolute  in  herself ;  she  proves  it 


406  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

by  all  the  titles  through  which  she  derived  her  claim  from 
the  beginning,  by  the  cl  ••'amations  of  the 

mother  coiintrv.  bv  the  repeated  acknowledgments  of  the 
United  States  themselves,  and  by  their  solemnly  expressed 
recognition  in  tlie  tirst  and  second  articles  of  the  agreement 
and  cession,  of  1  >OL>.  !•  -wn.  that  if  Ge<>rgia  had 

the  jurisdiction,  Georgia  had  never  parted  with  it  :  and 
that!  if  she  had  it  no-.  in  never  have  it  in  virtue  of 

any  authority  of  any  \nown  to  her.     Yet,  Georgia 

has  been  denied  the  right  of  purvey  of  he:  •  !],  with- 

in her  own  jurisdiction:  a  right  ;  Arable  from  that 

jurisdiction,  and  a<  inn<»  'it  of  way:  and   this, 

notwithstanding  the   con  'hat  sur.  :-   verily 

believetl,  freely  given  by  every  Chief  within  the  limi* 
the  territory,  who  could,  by  any  possibility,  sutler  liar 
detriment  from  it  :  nay.  n.  ••onfidently  believed,  that 

if  the  I'nited  St.,  rnment.   or  its 

extorted  from  one  portion  of  the  Indians  objections  to  the 
survey,  then-  wi.uld  not  have  been  found  a   >ing!e  individ- 
ual who  would  have  thought  of  entertaining  any  :  r.nd 
it  will  ii"'  .  mcil   of   Urokeii    Ar- 

row,   where  the   ' 

the  military  otlieer  of  the  I'M:  ;ider  hi-  instruc- 

tions, made  known  to  the  Chiefs  that  his  Government  had 
resolved  not  to  permit  the  survey  :  BO  'hat,  if  a  spirit,  at 
any  time,  from  any  cause,  had  animated  the  Indian  to 
hostility  against  Georgia,  tip  would  have  availed 

himself  -  .rvey.  a-  a  pretext  to  fall  upon  our  people, 

and  with  the  more  ferocity,  b  d  that  In-  would 

be  sustained  by  the  arm<  <>f  the  1'nitr  '. 

The  la<t  pretext  of  the  President,  for  resistance  to  the 
survey,  is  the  ohlj  :h  article  of  the 

treaty,  which  ^uaran-'  .-tioii  to  the  friendly  Indians. 

Under  that  guaranty,  the    I'nitc'  y  sniier 

Mclntosh  and  His  friends  to  be  murdered:  in  the  hour  of 
peril  no  arm  is  lifted  to  save  or  to  protect;  the  danger  pa>t  ; 
the  Chiefs  ma^acred  :  their  property  destroyed  or  dis- 
persed: the  survivors  in  Georgia  asking  bread  and  pi 
tiou  of  their  lives,  after  abandoning  to  their  enemies  every 
thin^  valuable  at  home  ;  the  I'nite'd  States  step  forth  witii 
their  armed  jiower.  to  defend,  under  the  sth  artic.le  of  the 
treaty,  the-e  same  Indians  a^ain-t  all  their  >  .  and 

more  particularly  the  Georgians,  their  only  friends  and  pro- 
tectors. 

Mclntosb  having  fallen  in  the  cau>e  of  tin-  I'liit'/d  St. 
by  the  hand  of  treachery,  the  United  States  were  bound. 


CHAP.  XI.]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1825.  407 

in  honor,  under  the  8th  article,  to  bring  to  punishment  his 
murderers  ;  to  restore  to  his  friends  their  rank,  power  and 
property,  lost  in  the  same  cause,  and  to  have  coerced  the 
execution  of  the  treaty  ;  all  which  could  easily  have  been 
accomplished;  but  the  Agents  of  the  United  States  indulg- 
ing more  of  sympathy  for  the  hostile,  than  for  the  friendly 
Indians,  prescribe  to  the  latter  the  terms  on  which  they 
shall  make  peace  with  their  enemies ;  the  blood  of  Mcln- 
tosh,  unwashed  from  their  hands,  the  plundered  property 
unrestored,  the  Agent  unremoved  ;  the  hostile  party  are  to 
be  received  into  the  bond  of  com  muni  on.  and  fellowship, 
with  a  forgiveness  of  sins,  as  if  these  natives  of  the  wilder- 
ness, at  once  the  noble  and  fallen  of  their  species,  should, 
in  the  darkness  of  heathenism,  do  more  than  the  philosophy 
of  the  henthen  or  the  fortitude  of  the  Christian  ever  did  ;  the 
money  stipulated  to  be  paid  to  them  exclusively,  and  by 
the  Commissioners  of  the  United  States,  ordered  to  be  paid, 
in  part,  to  their  enemies,  and  by'the  hands  of  other  Agents 
than  those  appointed  by  the  treaty.  These  wrongs,  clone  to 
the  friends  of  Mclntosh,  are  adverted  to  merely  because 
they  cannot  be  overlooked  in  the  catalogue  of  wrongs  done 
to  Georgia,  and  to  show  that  the  friendly  Indians  may  have 
suffered  for  indulging  friendly  sentiments  towards  Georgia, 
and  Georgia,  for  indulging  like  sentiments  towards  the 
friendly  Indians.  The  result  of  all  which  is,  that,  judging 
the  motives  and  objects  of  human  action  by  the  results,  the 
Agents  of  the  United  States,  whether  commissioned  for 
that  purpose,  or  not,  must  have  been  intent  on  vindicating 
the  conduct  of  the  Agent  for  Indian  Affairs,  and  opening 
the  way  for  the  rupture  of  the  treaty — for  that  conduct  has 
been  vindicated  and  approved  by  them,  and  all  the  materi- 
als, as  it  is  understood^  collected  for  that  rupture,  whilst  the 
Indians  remain  unreconciled  either  to  one  another,  or  to  the 
treaty,  and  a  large  portion  of  them  more  embittered  and 
exasperated  against  the  authors  of  it  than  ever. 
.  The  President  having  ultimately  resolved  to  refer  the 
treaty  to  Congress,  for  reconsideration,  because  of  alleged 
intrigue  and  treachery  practiced  to  obtain  it,  the  resolution 
adopted  by  the  Executive  to  prosecute  the  survey  under  the 
act  of  the"Legislaturc,  of  the  9th  day  of  June  last,  was 
changed,  and  the  change  immediately  communicated  to  the 
President 

It  would  be  uncantiid,  fellow-citizens,  to  disguise  that, 
but  for  the  proposed  reference  to  Congress,  the  survey 
would  have  been  commenced  and  prosecuted.  So  long  as 
the  controversy  was  confined  to  the  Executive  of  the  Union 


408  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUT.  [CHAP.  XI. 

and  the  Executive  of  Georgia,  there  could  be  no  hesitation 

a-  t<>  the  measures  which  it  became  the  latter  to  pursue, 
lit-tv.-  [\ially  independent,  it  is  not  required  of 

the  weaker  to  yield  to  the  stronger,  because  this  would  bu 
settling  controversies  by  the  rnle  of  force,  not  by  the  rule 
of  right;  and.  be  .vereigns  tin-  weaker  is  equally 

<j[iialiiied   as   the  stronger  to   pa-s    \i\  The 

immediate  survey  of  the  country,  required  certainly  by  the 
interest  and  convenience  of  Georgia,  \V:;s  n<»t  i>f  tiiat  vital 
importance  which  would  justify  offensive,  measuiv 
ecut.e  it.  But  the  abandonment  <>f  a  right,  not  consid- 
ered doubtful  by  the  only  power  competent  to  pronounce 
up>n  it.  was  another  and  very  different  matter.  The  con- 
cession of  aright,  without  an  equivalent,  by  a  weaker  to  a 
strong1!'  -  never  made  without  exposing  the  former 

to  injurious  imputation,   and  will   always  be  followed   by 
•n  after  concession  to  unjust  demands,  until  noth- 
ing remains  to  !»,•  demanded  on  the  one  side,  or  cone* 
on  the  other.     When,  therefore,  th  ..-ntof  the  Tinted 

States  commanded  the  Governor  of  Georgia  to  forbear  the 
survey,  and  when  that  command  was  followed  by  a  distinct 
annunciation  of  the  penalty  which  awaited  the  disobedi- 
ence to  it,  the  Executive  of  Georgia,  would  not  mendy 
have  surrendered  a  right  already  declared  to  be  so  by  the 
supreme  power  of  the  State,  but  ^ould  have  made  a  dis- 
honorable surrender  to  a  stronger  power,  with  the  sword 
suspended  over  his  he-id.  Whilst,  therefore,  the  Governor 
would,  in  this  respect,  have  treated  the  mandate  of  the 
unlawful,  he  did  not  hesitate,  as  soon  as  the 
contemplated  reference  of  the  treaty  to  (Jongre^,  for 
alleged  intrigue  and 'treachery,  was  officially  known  to 
him,  to  postpone  the  survey  until  the  meeting  of  the  L 
lature  ;  not  because  that  reference  was  lawful,  but  th;< 
legality  or  illegality  was  not  so  appropriately  a  question 
for  his  decision,  as  for  that  of  the  Legislature,  bo  that, 
whilst  the  Government  of  Georgia  denied  the  power  of  the 
Executive  authority  of  the  United  States  to  pronounce 
upon  her  rights,  it  might  not  refuse  to  the  assembled  States 
of  the  Union  the  opportunity  of  investigating  certain  claims, 
or  discussing  certain  questions  in  coutrover-y.  connected 
with  the  treaty,  or  with  her  own  character  and  conduct  in 
relation  to  it.  So  far  as  that  character  and  conduct  were 
in  any  manner  involved  in  the  negotiation  or  conclusion  of 
the  treaty,  or  in  the  events  which  preceded  and  followed, 
their  purity,  uprightness  and  justice  might  freely  be  can- 
vassed before  the  whole  world.  Thus  much  was  conceded 


CHAP.  XL]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1825.  409 

for  our  own  sake,  until  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  ;  the 
rights  of  the  State  were  saved  by  protestation,  and  the 
Legislature  is  yet  free  to  act  -upon  the  subject,  as  if  no 
measure  had  been  taken  by  the  Executive  in  relation  to 
that  reference.  The  legality  of  the  survey  was  asserted, 
the  power  to  invalidate  the  treaty  denied,  and  the  absolute 
title  of  Georgia  to  the  soil  and  jurisdiction  vindicated. 

The  very  limited  knowledge  of  the  history  of  the  Creek 
tribes,  possessed  by  the  people  of  the  United  States,  and 
the  misconceptions  and  misrepresentations  which  could  not 
fail  to  ensue,  inducjd  the  Executive  to  direct  the  attention 
of  J.  Y.  Be  van,  Esq.,  (already  assiduously  occupied  under 
your  appointment  to  collect  the  materials  for  a  history  of 
Georgia,)  to  the  illustration  of  that  part  of  the  Creek  story 
which  had  more  immediate  reference  to  the  points  involved 
in  the  discussion  of  the  treaty.  The  result  of  his  diligent 
research  is  submitted  in  the  paper  marked  (A).  You  will 
find  there  the  ground  assumed  by  the  Executive  of  Georgia 
in  maintenance  of  the  treaty,  viz  :  that  the  consent  of 
Coweta  was  of  itself  sufficient,  independently  of  all  other 
considerations,  to  give  force  and  efficacy  to  that  instru- 
ment, is  fully  sustained,  and  by  evidence  derived  from 
such  authentic  sources,  as  to  leave  nothing  to  cavil  or  to 
subterfuge. 

In  obedience  to  the  will  of  the  Legislature,  expressed^  in 
their  resolutions  of  the  llth  day  of,  June  last,  I  proceeded 
to  the  appointment  of  Commissioners  to  carry  the  objects 
of  them  into  effect.  In  selecting  the  members  of  this  com- 
mission, I  endeavored  to  have  regard  to  the  qualifications 
of  uprightness,  integrity  and  intelligence.  It  was  believed 
that  the  selection  would  be  approved  by  the  moral  and 
enlightened  of  our  own  community.  Since,  however,  the 
censorship  of  the  United  States  Agents  has  passed  them  in 
review,  the  Executive  is  informed  by  those  Agents  that  he 
was  mistaken  and  deceived ;  and,  accordingly,  you  will  see, 
in  sundry  documents  accompanying  this  message,  the  char- 
acters of  those  Commissioners  so  portrayed  that  it  would 
have  been  difficult  to  resist  the  belief  that,  by  a  strange 
fatality,  they  had  been  chosen  from  the  least  worthy  and 
estimable  of  society,  if  the  characters  of  the  persons  fill- 
ing the  highest  offices  of  the  State,  both  Legislative  and 
Executive,  had  not  previously  been  subjected  to  the  same 
scrutiny  and  shared  the  same  fate.  The  report  will  inform 
you  of 'the  treatment  they  received,  and  of  the  obstacles 
thrown  in  their  way  at  every  step,  by  which  all  investi- 

52 


410  LIFE  OF  flKOKGE  M.  TR  [«'n.u-.  XI. 

Cation    was  i    unavailing.     The    principal   Airent 

having    been   instructed   by   the    President    to  advise   with 
tlie  Governor  of   Georgia  upon  the  n.  ry   to 

•ition   of  .    when    the   * 

ernor   of  Georgia    appointed  '  operate 

vrith  him  in  the  ta*k  of  invocation,  a-  well  a,-  to  «Miard  the 
interests  of  Q  ..pointriient  is  pronounced 

a  usurpation — the  coinin'  'reated  a-  privat. 

— c\  i'ltction   o-pp.jM-d   to  the    ; 

mony — intercourse    with    the    Indian 

promises  L'is  en  <  !':;  mination   ot'  the   Indians, 

violated    -the    word    Of  an   Indian  C'hicf   received 

;st  tin-  testimony  of  tho  whole  wot-!  .  ..t  of 

Indian    Alia'  .i'ed    in;.  :idrmned     lr 

••s  of  th.  \vho    liad    d; 

i,Mii>hed  themse!\'i'.-.  in  the  e.-unei!.s  of  their  own  Natio; 

a,    prrmiited  to  sil  in  the 

to  aid    with   their  a  d  to  dictate  the  talks 

of  ti.  M  with  their  • 

.:  l»y  the  iViein:!\ 

In  coiiijiliaiiee   with  the   requisitions  ot'  the  >lu- 

tions,  I  transmitted,  without  dehr>.  ••!'  the  iiieinorial 

addressed  l>y  the  ture  to  ti,  .'.the 

condiiet   of  the    A  P   Indian    AH'airs,  and  re«|iu-.-t;.n^ 

'«  a^  from  it,  in  this,  as  in  < 

Other  ne  aut,horit;>  .r-ia   li; 

})lained  o,f  the   conduct    of  his   Agents,  h; 

ideratio; 

cision  as  unexoueted  a<   u  n  -at  is  factory.      '  tran-fer 

of  a  matter  by  the    1 'resident,  who  ^ 

control  o*  -;  which  has  no  >urh  control. 

The   .President    has  ai;thority  to   di-miss,   at    ]>h-asiire,  the 
•  dinjr  otticer.  military  i>ne,  tonrder  a  court  for 

hii  trial,  whilst  i.  u-    I'nited  Stat«--  I1.;-. 

The    utmost    the    (  >,    in    an 

extreme  to  impeach  the  ojlieer.  if  imj>eac!iabi 

not,  repeal  the  law  creating  t]  !  thus  indii' 

removing  the  incumbent.  .inirany  securiiy 

that  he   would  not  immediately   be  appointed  to  another 
office,    or   restored   to    th.  e    ii'  it    Hio;;ld    b 

established  by  law. 

Haying  suhmittud.  in  detail,  a  narrative  of  the  events  to 
which  our  relations  with  the  I'nited  States  have  LMVCH 
and  e\po>ed  the    motives  and   principles  which  have 
erned  the  conduct   of  the   Executive  tin- 
to  your  wisdom  to  decide  upon  the  mea-ur.  ary  and 


CHIP.  XL]  AXXUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1825. 

proper  to  sustain  the  honor  and  defend  the  rights  and  in- 
dependence of  the  State.  It  is  confidently  believed  that 
the  Constitution,  the  public  law,  nor  the  usages  of  nations, 
will  justify  an  abrogation  of  the  treaty  ;  and  it  is  recom- 
mended to  you,  therefore,  in  any  and  every  event,  to 
consider,  as  heretofore,  the  Indian  claims  to  the  territory  as 
effectually  extinguished  by  it,  and  that,  whether  the  survey 
be  suspended  or  not ;  to  order  the  occupation  of  it  on  the 
day  stipulated  in  that  instrument,  in  the  same  manner  as 
you  would  have  done  if  its  validity  had  not  been  ques- 
tioned. 

In  the  correspondence  submitted  to  the  Legislature,  at 
their  late  extraordinary  session,  will  be  found  the  repeated 
and  final  resolution  of  the  Cherokees  never  to  abandon 
the  territory  they  occupy  within  our  limits.  This  resolu- 
tion may  be  satisfactory  to  the  Government  of  the  United 
States;  it  cannot  be  so  to  you.  Having  taken  theirs,  it 
remains  for  you  to  take  yours,  and,  in  doing  so,  no  time  is 
to  be  lost.  Your  better  judgment  will  suggest  and  approve 
the  remedy.  AYhatever  it  may  be,  I  recommend  to  you 
to  adopt  early  and  energetic  measures  for  the  removal  of 
all  white  persons  and  others,  not  Indians,  inhabiting  that 
territory,  with  the  exception  only  of  such  as  are  necessarily 
employed  in  the  service  of  the  United  States,  under  the 
power  granted  to  Congress  to  regulate  commerce  with  the 
Indian  tribes.  By  the  second  article  of  agreement  and 
cession,  you  will  find  the  following  words  inserted  by  our 
Commissioners  out  of  abundant  caution :  The  United 
States  "  cede  to  the  State  of  Georgia  whatever  claim,  right 
or  title  they  may  have  to  the  jurisdiction  or  soil  of  those 
lands."  Nothing  remained  to  the  Indians,  therefore,  but 
the  right  of  temporary  occupation  for  hunting.  This 
right  has  been  construed  so  liberally,  that,  in  practice,  a 
general  usufructuary  interest  has  been  conceded  to  them. 
But  this  reservation  of  hunting  grounds  is  confined  to  the 
Indians  exclusively,  and  designed  for  their  use  and  benefit 
only.  The  soil  and  jurisdiction  being  in  Georgia,  it  was 
no  more  lawful  for  the  United  States  to  introduce  other 
persons  there,  than  it  would  have  been  for  them  to  have 
introduced,  within  the  settled  limits  of  Georgia,  a  colony  of 
free  persons  of  color,  of  Indians,  or  of  white  people.  The 
utmost  allowable  to  the  United  States,  in  this  respect,  was 
the  settlement,  within  the  territory,  of  such  of  their  own 
officers  as  were  necessary  to  carry  into  effect  their  acknowl- 
edged power  to  regulate  commerce  with  the  Indians.  The 
United  States  have,  nevertheless,  by  permission,  toleration, 


412  I'TFE  OF  ftF.ORfiE    M.   TROi  [('ii.u-.  XI. 

or  encouragement,  introduced  there,  from  time  to  time, 
white  persons,  and   others,    who  have  made  scttlen-: 
exercised  ownership  over  the  soil,  and  cultivated   it  in  the 
same  manner   as  if  the    I'nited   States,  and   not  Georgia, 
i  the  rL'ht  of  soil  and  jurisdiction  ;  and  these  very 
same    persons,   a-   it    is    confidently    believed,    have    been 
chiefly  instrumental  in  preventing  the  Indians  from  :• 
ing    the  country:  all   such   p  ''icrelbre,    an'    t 

and   intruders   upon   the   soil  of 

Georgia,  and  t rt;  >nlingly.     This  is  lip  and 

practice    of   the    I'nited  <  ioverninen;  \vith 

regard  to   its   own    lands.      In    every    instanc  the 

United    States    have    claimed    the    soil     ami    jurisdiction, 
whether  the  Indians  lie   in    occupation   or  •  em- 

inent has  exercised   the  power  to  treat  all  such  \»- 
trespassers  and  intruders;  and  an  art  of  Co- 
the    President   to  expel   them    at  the  point  of  tin-  bayonet. 
It  is  equally  competent  to  the  Government  of  this  i 
adopt  like  mcasu  ,al   of  tresp; 

own  soil ;  and,  for  this  purpose,  having  made  the  D 
statutory  pi'"  .   it  is  recommended   to  you  to  extend 

the  laws  of  Georgia  over  the  country. 

You  have  seen  how  our  rights  of  sovereignty,  those  of 
the  elective  franchise,  of  territory  and  jurisdiction, 
been    infringed;  you   will  see  the  same  rights  violated,  in 
the  independence,  character  and  dignity  of  the  co-istii 
authorities  occupied  in  the  management  of  our 

A  special  officer  was  commissioned   l>y  I 
inquire  into  the  conduct  of  the   Agent  1'or  Indian   ail 
who,  on  presenting  himself  here,  was  received  in  the  D 
friendly  temper,  and  with  assurance   that  every  ;: 
would  he  rendered  to  promote  the  ohjer  :on  : 

not  doubting  that  the  object,  as  he  repeatedly   j 
was  justice  to  all  tlif  pa;  to   ihe  public,  to 

liis  own  Government,  to  Georgia,  to  tin:  Indians,  and  t<>  the 
officer  implicated.  Any  deportment,  which  miglr> 
construed  into  a  disposition  to  bias  or  mislead  him,  was 
studiously  avoided  ;  all  information  required,  promptly  fur- 
nished ;  and  not  a  suspicion  admitted  that  he  could  have 
been  actuated  by  other  than  honorable  motives,  until,  in  a 
conversation  which  a  gentleman  in  the  confidence  of  the 
Governor  was  instructed  to  hold  with  him,  he  betrayed 
very  strong  p  asions  in  favor  of  the  Agent  :  so  much 

so,  and  at  so  early  a  period,  that,  with  an  intention  to  api 
Ms  Government  of  the  fact,  a  letter  was  addressed  to  him, 
marked  (B),  which,  with  his  answer,  marked  ((•),  is  suit- 


CHAP.  XI.]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1825. 

mitted.  In  the  latter,  you  will  find  repeated  professions  of 
impartiality  and  disinterestedness  ;  but  you  will  soon  per- 
ceive, in  his  after  conduct  and  writings,  the  hollowness  and 
insincerity  of  them.'  They,  and  the  report  of  the  State 
Commissioners,  show  that  the  Special  Agent  came  here, 
not  to  inquire  into  the  conduct  of  the  Agent  of  Indian 
affairs,  but,  as  counsel  or  attorney,  to  advise  with  him,  to 
lend  him  aid  and  countenance,  to  collect  testimony  for  his 
vindication  and  acquittal,  and,  without  giving  ear  to  the 
testimony  against  him,  to  pronounce  that  acquittal  as  hon- 
orable for  himself,  and  the  prosecution  as  disgraceful  to  all 
the  parties  concerned  in  it;  seeking,  for  this  purpose,  with 
great  labor  and  assiduity,  the  evidence  of  the  outcasts  of 
society,  wherever  he  could  find  it,  and  thus  embodying  for 
himself  and  his  Government,  a  volume  of  impurest  matter, 
by  which  to  justify  that  acquittal.  His  patience  would 
not  permit  him  to  wait  the  closing  of  the  testimony  on  either 
side,  as  you  will  see  in  his  letter  of  the  21st  June,  address- 
ed to  the  Agent  and  published  by  him.  It  was  this  letter, 
proving  iricontestably  that  the  question  had  been  prejudged 
at  Washington,  and  that  a  farce  had  been  playing  only  to 
amuse  the  authorities  of  Georgia,  which  decided  the  Ex- 
ecutive to  address  to  him  the  note  of  the  28th  June,  in- 
structing him  to  hold  no  further  correspondence  with  this 
Government.  The  letter,  of  the  4th  of  July,  was  subse- 
quently addressed  to  this  Department,  in  which,  after  justi- 
fying  his  offensive  one  of  the  21st  June,  he  insults  the 
authorities  of  Georgia,  by  referring  the  prosecution  of  the 
Agent  to  the  most  corrupt  and  reprehensible  of  motives ; 
and,  by  the  affected  charity  with  which  he  excepted  the 
Chief  Magistrate  from  the  charge,  gave  poignancy  to  his 
denunciation,  and  to  his  sentence  a  semblance  of  a  legal 
character,  as  if  pronounced  by  a  competent  magistrate  from 
the  judgment  seat.  It  was  not  until  after  the  return  of  this 
officer  to  Washington,  that  he  caused  to  be  published,  un- 
der the  eye  of  his  Government,  the  declaration  "  that  he 
was  informed  by  the  acting  Agent  for  Indian  Affairs,  that 
the  Commissioners  of  Georgia  had  carried  with  them  into 
the  Nation  a  large  amount  of  money,  say  four  to  six  thous- 
and dollars,"  strongly  insinuating,  at  the  same  time,  that 
this  money  was  carried  there  for  the  purposes  of  bribery 
and  corruption.  A  charge  against  this  branch  of  the  Gov- 
ernment, connected  with  the  administration  of  the  finances, 
so  serious,  proceeding  from  such  a  person,  and  made  in  a 
form  so  specific,  deserves  your  attention,  and  the  more,  be- 
cause the  truth  or  falsehood  of  it  can  be  easily  established. 


414  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Cnxr.  XI. 

Another  Special  Agent  had  l>een  deputed  to  this  Gov- 
ernment, in  a  civil  and  military  capacity,  to  ir  •  the 

'  the  disturbances  in  the  Indian  country,  to  rei: 
the  causes  of  discontent,  and  to   rcconeile  the  contending 
parties,      lie  likewise  wa  :  \viththe   n;  ;nlly 

dispositions,  and  treated  with  all  the  respect  due  to  his  rank 
and  character.  He  prd'e^ed  lobe  animated  by  the  love 
of  truth  and  justice,  to  he  in  the  interest  of  no  party,  and, 
in  the  execution  of  h'  .  the  die' 

of  duty  only.     Xot  doubting 

sions  the  aid  a;id  C   -operation  of  the  Kxeculive  of  (  reo 
in   promoting  the  olijects  of  his  mission,   were   cheerfully 
tendered,  and  would   undoubtedly   h;:  atforde.d    to 

anv  extent  within  the  powers  of  the  Department.  The  ih>,t 
manifestation  -iveii  by  t! 

the  autli"  f  Georgia,  which  -  tiie  knowl- 

:11  be  found  in  the  representation 
of  the  Commissioners,  and  in  the1  letter  of  the  other  Special 

•it,  in  which,  speaking  of  his  obnoxious   ietier   of  the 
of  .lime,  he  says,  "  tiie   '  ,;>probafed  hy  a  man 

who  for  wisdom  stands  inferior  to  few,  and  in  honor  to 
none."  If  ;'  'ii  allud- 

ed to  hy  the  writer  was   the  same  Airent   whose   condi; 
the  subject  of  this  review,  it   is   certain  that  even  at  the 
time  he  could  not  have  entertained   for  the   authorities  of 
Georgia  tho-  '  /ul  sentiments  which  he  profes-ed,  nud 

which  in  duty  he  wa-  bound  to  entertain  ;  for,   in  that 
noxious  letter,  those  authorities  were  denounced  foropi 

.    partiality   and   mji;  !    ilaicrant,   kind, 

j-racticed  against  the  Indian  A^ent.  On  ihe  Ji't'n  day  of 
.July,  he  wrote  a  letter  to  the  Governor,  enclosing  a  certili- 
of  the  Indian  Chief,  Marshall,  and  a  white  man  named 
Edwards,  to  disprove  the  fact  of  Macintosh  and  his  Council 
having  given  their  as--ent  to  the  survey.  Thi-  !  'uld 

not  liave  oil'ercd  a  greater  insult   to  any  independent.  ; 
ernment.     He  had  seen  the  public  message,  in  which  the 
assent  of  Mclntosh  and  his  Chiefs  had  been  announced   to 
the  Legislature,  and  the  incontestable   evidence   on    which 
the  annunciation  was  founded.      Disregarding  the  authority 
of  both,  and  professing  to    rely   on   the  testimony   of  such 
persons  as  Marshall  and  Kdwards,  known  to  him  to  be  infa- 
mous, he  informs  the  Governor  that  no  such  assent  was 
given.      In  aggravation  of  this  insult,  before  any  notice  was 

in  of  it,  he  causes  tiie  . nine  letter,  with  the  certihY 
to  be  published  on  his  own  authority,  alleging,  as  In- 
cuse, that  falsehoods  and  calumnies,  by  whom  or  about 


CHAP.  XL]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF   1825.  415 

what,  lie  did  not  inform  us,  were  propagated  ;  thus  making 
his  appeal  to  the  public  from  the  pretended  rumor  of  the 
day,  for  the  purpose  'of  bringing  the  authorities  of  Georgia 
into  disrepute  with  their  own  people,  and  separating  the 
people  from  their  Government.  He  was  soon  informed  that 
he  himself  was  the  dupe  of  the  certificate  of  Marshall, 
and  that  his  own  conduct  was  reprehensible  in  relying  on 
it  to  reproach  the  Government  of  Georgia  with  misrepre- 
sentation and  falsehood  ;  and,  of  this  his  Government  and 
the  public  were  soon  after  furnished  with  abundant  proof. 
When  this  officer  is  rebuked  for  an  indignity  which  could, 
with  no  propriety,  pass  without  censure,  he  loses  all  self- 
command,  and,  forgetting  his  own  station  and  that  of  the 
person  to  whom  he  addresses  himself,  writes  letter  after 
letter  to  the  Chief  Magistrate,  couched  in  the  most  offen- 
sive language,  and  which,  from  their  manner  as  well  as 
matter,  and  the  immediate  publicity  given  to  them  through 
the  gazettes,  must  have  been  intended  as  electioneering 
papers,  to  subserve  the  cause  of  one  of  the  contending 
parties  in  the  State,' to  the  prejudice  of  the  other  ;  an  in- 
ference deriving  abundant  confirmation  from  the  fact  that 
the  same  officer  was  in  the  practice,  in  the  common  inter- 
course of  society,  of  applying  to  the  Chief  Magistrate, 
and  others  in  authority,  the  most  contumelious  and  abusive 
epithets. 

As  no  further  intercourse  could  be  held  with  him,  with- 
out compromitting  the  dignity  of  the  State,  it  was,  in  the 
first  instance,  forbidden";  and  when,  afterwards,  he  had 
proceeded  to  the  greatest  extremity,  his  recall,  arrest,  trial 
and  punishment  were  demanded  of  his  Government.  The 
Executive  of  the  State  would  have  been  warranted  by  the 
public  law  and  practice  of  nations,  in  a  case  so  flagrant,  to 
have  ordered  him  to  leave  the  territory  of  Georgia,  and  to 
have  enforced  that  order.  It  was  unwilling  to  resort  to  11 
measure  of  harshness  or  severity,  however  justifiable.  The 
United  States  Government  itself  is  not  less  tenacious  of  its 
own  dignity  than  others.  It  has,  at  least  on  one  occasion, 
interdicted  intercourse  with  a  foreign  minister  of  first 
grade,  representing  a  European  power  of  first  rank,  _  for 
merely  contradicting  it  abruptly  ;  and  the  equally  merited 
treatment  of  another  minister,  representing  a  first-rate 
power,  for  appeals  to  the  people  from  their  Government,  is 
well  known  to  you.  More  recently,  the  gallant  Porter  has 
been  punished  by  his  Government,  for  insulting  the  petty 
authorities  of  Foxardo,  and  for  making  an  appeal  from  that 
Government,  through  the  public  prints,  much  less  excep- 


41G  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROT:  P.  [CHAP.  XI. 

tionable  than  lli.it  nuide  l>y  this  otlicer  in  the  publication 
of  his  letter  of  the  10th  -July.  Whether  the  constituted 
authorities  of  Ueor^ia  are  of  raor  importance  than 

thosi- of  Foxardo,  in  the- view  of  the  General  Government, 
will  he  seen  in  th  r of  the  President.  The  answer  of 

the  President  to  the  demand  of  the  Governor  .if  Georgia, 
for  his  recall  and  arre<t,  is  as  little  creditable  to  the  func- 
tionary from  which  it  c  sati<factory  to  the,  one  to 
v.'honi  it  is  addressed. 

The    President  is  hound,  hy  .•.institutional  obi' 

tion,  to  execute  the  law-.     One  of  t.he-e  laws  declares,  that 
•-  any  otlicer  or  soldier  who  shall  u<e  contemptuous  or  di 
spectfhl  words  against  the  Chief  Magistrate  or  f.eirMature 
of  any  of  th  'ied  ollicer,   shall    he 

;ered."     The    Pi'.  ;;eknowl  -•    to 

have  used  contemptuous  and  disrespectful  words,  for  which 
his  conduct  is  simply  disapproved;  and  lie  is  informed  that 
if  the  Governor  oi   this  State  had    not   previously    used 
ward   him   off  •iemand    would    : 

.iplied    with.      S.i   tli;.  iini:  1"  lhi>  construe- 

tiou   of  the  President,    his    milit:1.  irs   may    conduct, 

them-eh  yy   please   \vithin  the  jurisdiction  of  the 

respecth  matter  how  exccpti.malily  :   and  the 

least  reprehension  ,,r  cen>ure  hy  tiie  Chief  M;i^i>trale 

i,   is  their  sufiicient   warrant  to  retort  in  ahusive  and 
insulting   lan^ua^e,  and  to  gratify  their  resent  me' 
at  the  exjieu-e  «>f  the  independence  of  the  elective   fran- 
:  a  construction     which     makes   the   law    a    nullity. 
;se    it  privileges  the  military  ollicer  to  do  that  which, 
hut  for  the  law,  he  mi^ht  legally  nave  done  ;  in>uit  a  Chief 
Mairi-trate  of  a  State  as  he  would  insult  a  jjrivale  citizen, 
for  any  real  or  imaginary  grievance ;  a  ))rivile^e  which 
law  was  intended  to  ]>rohiliit  tohim.      Hut ..the  fact  assumed 
hy   the   President  as  true,  is  not  true.     Nothing  offen 
was    written    to  this    officer  hel'ore  he  had    three    several 
times  offended  the  dignity  of  this  ( Jovernmenl,  vix:  hy  his 
approhation   of  the    oll'ensive    terms    of  the    letter   of  the 
other  special  agent,    hy  his  disrespectful  treatment  of  the 
Commissioners,  and  hy  his  procurement  and  publication  of 
the  false  statement   of  Marshall  and    Kdwards.     This  ex- 
position of  the  law  hy  the    Executive  of  the  I'nite* 
will  satisfy  yon  of  the   expediency   of  depending  on  your 
own   measures   for  defence  against   the   repetition  of  such 
outra 

The  Governor  of  (ieor^-ia  denies  the  rigiit  of  the  Presi- 
dent to  excuse  or  justify  his  officer  in  the  violation  of  the 


CHAP.  XL]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1825.  41 Y 

law  of  the  United  States,  which  he  is  bound  to  execute, 
because  of  any  act  or  supposed  act  of  the  Governor,  which 
is  in  violation  of  no  law.  The  President,  by  such  excuse 
or  justification,  takes  the  place  of  the  Agent ;  and  when,  in 
one  of  his  authorized  communications,  he  says,  "  there  is 
no  part  of  his  duty  which  the  President  more  anxiously 
pursues  than  that  of  maintaining  the  most  scrupulous 
decorum  in  his  official  intercourse  with  the  State  authori- 
ties, a  line  of  conduct  from  which  no  circumstances, 
however  aggravated,  have  or  will  tempt  him  to  depart,"  he 
only  means,  that  what  he  does  not  choose  to  do  by  himself 
he  will  do  by  his  Agent. 

The  published  addresses  of  the  different  agents  are  sub- 
mitted with  the  rest,  only  to  show  the  unity  of  feeling, 
sentiment  and  action,  which  has  signalized  the  deportment 
of  the  United  States  officers  of  every  grade,  in  their  in- 
tercourse with  the  Government  of  Georgia.  It  can  be 
submitted  to  no  longer.  The  sovereignty,  independence 
and  dignity  of  the  State  must  be  maintained ;  and  to  sup- 
port them  you  must  depend  on  your  own  means.  I  advise 
you,  therefore,  to  have  recourse  to  those  means  :  no  matter 
whom  you  place  in  authority,  all  strangers  must  be  com- 
pelled to  respect,  in  their  exterior  demeanor  at  least,  those 
authorities.  The  sacredness  of  the  elective  franchise  can 
be  protected  by  regarding  every  private  person,  not  a 
citizen  of  Georgia,  who  interferes  with  that  freedom,  as  an 
alien  and  stranger,  violating  a  right  of  sovereignty,  and 
exposing  himself  to  punishment.  If  an  officer  of  the  United 
States,  not  being  a  citizen  of  Georgia,  he  renders  himself 
the  more  obnoxious,  from  the  double  capacity  in  which 
he  offends  that  sovereignty  ;  and  if  an  officer  representing 
his  Government,  in  a  diplomatic  character,  before  this 
Government,  he  can  be  made  amenable  under  the  sanc- 
tions of  your  own  laws,  and  the  laws  and  usages  of  nations, 
for  offences  committed  against  either;  and  to  this  end  you 
have  only  to  define  the  character  of  the  offence,  and  to 
prescribe  the  punishment. 

In  the  expose  of  the  state  of  our  relations  with  the 
General  Government,  other  grievances,  minor  and  second- 
ary in  importance,  are  adverted  to,  not  for  the  purpose  of 
accumulating  wrongs  into  a  formidable  mass,  and  making 
an  appeal  the  louder  and  deeper  to  the  justice  of  that  Gov- 
ernment, but  to  satisfy  our  fellow-citizens,  that,  if  we  have 
complained  in  vain,  we  have  not  complained  without  cause, 
and  that  our  cup  of  bitterness  is  almost  fall. 

53 


4-18  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

[These  two  paragraphs — one  relating  to  claims  of  the 
State  against  the  United  States,  for  militia  services  against 
Indian  hostilities — and  the  other  relating  to  claims  of  cit- 
izens of  Georgia  against  the  Creek  Nation,  under  the  treaty 
of  1821,  are  omitted.] 

The  Government  of  Georgia  had  reason  to  expect  that 
the  United  Status  would  not  refuse  their  concurrence  and 
co-operation  in  the  running  «»f  the  line  between  this  State 
and  the  State  of  Alabama  :  1st,  !•-.  '. viv  proprie- 

tor- of  the  soil  on  one  side  of  it  ;  and,  I'd,  because  Georgia 
was   concerned    that    the    pn  -id   authority    of   the 

United  States  should  be  a  security  to  the  Indians  that  their 
rights  should  hi:  respected — a  security  which  would  sa 
Georgia  the  expense  of  a  military  force  in  the  prosecution 
of  the  work,  as  the  Indians,  in  the  absence  of  that  security, 
might  be  excited  by  evil  -    to  interrupt   its 

execution.  The  J'rcsident,  in  the  first  instance,  signified 
no  objection  to  a  co-operation,  but  the  one  founded  on  a 
mistake  in  fact,  that  Alabama  had  not  given  her  a~ 
Subsequently,  however,  the  co-operation  was  declined,  it  be- 
ing, as  was  said,  a  matter  in  which  Georgia  and  Alabama 
were  alone  concerned,  and  with  which  the  I'nited  States  had 
nothing  to  do.  More  recently,  as  you  are  informed,  the 
State  has  been  absolutely  forbidden,  at  her  peril,  to  enter 
her  territory  for  the  purpose  of  running  a  line  or  making 
a  survey  of  any  description  ;  the  sum  of  all  which  is  that 
the  United  States  claim  for  themselves  the  power  to  enter 
upon  their  territory  wherever  the  soil  and  jurisdiction  are 
in  them;  to  settle  there  whom  they  please,  and  to  expel 
whom  they  please,  even  at  the  point  of  the  bayonet ;  but 
deny  the  same  power  to  Georgia,  where  the  soil  and  juris- 
diction are  in  her,  and  forbid  her,  under  the  pain  of 
military  chastisement,  to  run  a  line  or  make  a  survey  there. 
The  late  correspondence  with  the  Governor  of  Alabama, 
will  show  that  we  may  soon  expect  the  concurrence  of 
that  State  in  our  resolution  to  run  the  line  ;  and  it  is  very 
desirable  that  no  further  obstacle  should  be  suffered  to  pre- 
vent its  execution. 

A  request  made  to  the  Executive  of  the  United  States, 
under  authority  of  a  resolution  of  the  Legislature,  to  co- 
operate with  this  State  in  running  the  dividingline  between 
it  and  the  Territory  of  Florida,  was  also  refused,  on  the  alle- 
gation that  Congress  had  made  no  provision  for  such  co- 
operation. 


CHAP.  XI.]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1825.  419 

[The  portion  of  the  message,  here  omitted,  relates  en- 
tirely to  Internal  Improvement,  and  has  been  copied  into 
the  eighth  chapter  of  this  work.  The  next  three  para- 
graphs are  also  omitted  :  the  first  relates  to  the  Banks,  the 
second  recommends  a  "  revision  of  our  military  system  ; " 
and  the  third,  the  establishment  of  a  "  Court  of  Errors  or 
Appeals,"  as  "  a  remedy  for  evils  no  longer  tolerable."] 

I  transmit,  as  a  matter  of  duty,  two  resolutions  of  the 
Legislatures  of  Connecticut  and  Illinois,  received  since  the 
late  extra  session,  recommending  to  the  Congress,  and  to 
the  States,  the  abolition  of  slavery. 

Nothing  has  transpired  to  change  my  sentiments  on  a 
subject,  to  which,  more  than  once,  it  has  been  made  my 
duty  to  call  your  attention.  It  is  my  settled  conviction,  and 
the  more  confirmed  than  ever,  that  neither  the  other  States, 
nor  the  Congress,  have  any  right  to  bring  that  subject  into 
question  before  them,  in  any  form,  and  that  every  attempt 
to  do  so  by  either,  should  be  regarded  in  the  same  manner 
as  an  attempt  to  destroy  your-  sovereignty,  of  which  it  is 
an  essential  part ;  and  that  you  will  have  no  security  for 
this  property,  against  the  efforts  which  will  be  made,  from 
time  to  time,  to  impair  its  value,  and  eventually  destroy  it, 
but  in  the  equally  settled  conviction  on  the  part  of  the  as- 
sailants, that  you  will  defend  it  as  you  would  defend  your 
lives.  Independently  of  any  precautionary  measures  which 
you  may  deem  proper  for  the  permanent  safety  of  this 
property,  every  proposition  which  may  be  addressed  to  you 
on  the  subject,  either  by  the  State  or  the  United  States 
authorities,  being  unconstitutional  on  the  face  of  it,  as  it 
cannot  be  received  otherwise  than  offensively,  and  conse- 
quently ought  not  to  be  received  at  all,  should  be  returned 
to  the  authorities  from  which  it  emanated. 

[These  paragraphs,  referring  to  various  resolutions  of  the 
Legislature ;  to  "  Institutions  for  the  instruction  of  youth  ;" 
to  Franklin  College,  which  was  stated  to  be  "in an  onward 
course  of  prosperity  ;  "  to  County  Academies,  and  the  Poor 
School  Fund,  omitted.] 

In  our  lamented  differences  with  the  United  States, 
the  constituted  authorities  of  Georgia  have  been  ungener- 
ously reviled— sentiments  and  feelings  have  been  adopted 
for  them,  to  which  their  hearts  and  understandings  are 
strangers.  The  charge  of  hostility  to  the  Union  is  indig- 
nantly repelled — Georgia  is  not  behind  the  foremost  of  her 


420  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTJP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

sisters  in  devotion  to  the  Union — she  is  laboring  at  this 
moment  to  cement  and  perpetuate  that  Union,  by  bringing 
it  back  to  the  principles  of  the  Constitution.  AW  mean  a 
Union  of  definite  signification — a  Constitutional  Union 
for  all  Constitutional  objects — a  Union  tor  safety,  for  se- 
curity of  life,  liberty  and  property — a  Union  to*  enforce 
the  powers  of  the  General  Government,  M  \\-ell  as  to  pro- 
tect and  defend  the  rights  and  powers  of  the  States — a 
Union  which  means  something,  and  which  we  love  and 
cherish  :i<  a  Messing.  P>ut  the  Onion  which  is  construed  to 
mean  any  thing  or  everything— a  I'nion  for  absorption  and 
consolidation,  which  would  prescribe  no  limits  to  the  pow- 
ers of  one  Government,  but  t'  ,sl  welfare,  and  which 
would  reduce  the  DOWen  "fall  the  rest  to  a  shadow  of 
sovereignty — which  claims  supremacy  and 
dience — which  construes  the  Constitution  for  itself,  and 
issues  its  mandates  to  the  States,  backed  by  the  purse 
and  sword — which  threatens  to  decide  for  us  what  is  pro- 
pert}'  and  what  is  not  property,  and  whether  we  shall  hold 
any  property  of  a  certain  kind,  »r  not— -which  sends  its 
officers  and  agents  to  insult  and  defy  the  public  function- 
aries of  the  ^  if  they  were  subaltern  in  rank  and 
consequence  to  themselves — such  a  Union  is  not  the  Union 
adopted  by  the  State.--,  and  it  is  believed  is  not  such  a  one 
as  the  States  will  support.  The  Chief  Magistrate  especi- 
ally disclaims  any  other  motive  as  the  governing;  one  of  his 
conduct,  than  the  sincerest  attachment  to  the  I'nion,  with- 
out tincture  of  prejudice  against  the  persons  who  compose 
the  councils  of  the  United  States  ;  but,  on  the  contrary, 
with  the  strongest  predispositions  to  give  every  aid  and  sup- 
port to  those  councils  to  promote  the  peace,  interest  and 
happiness  of  the  country. 

It  is  asserted,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  thai  sil 
Georgia  was  a  party  to  the  Revolution,  the  Confede: 
or  the  Union,  she  has  fulfilled  with  sincerity  and  fidelity 
all  her  obligations  and  engagements  ;  in  peace  and  in  war, 
under  whatever  administration,  not  merely  answering  with 
promptness  to  every  requisition,  but,  according  to  her 
means,  sustaining  that  Government  with  as  much  vigor  and 
patriotism  as  any  of  her  sisters — as  little  querulous  as  any 
of  them — more  complying  than  most  of  them,  and  never 
bringing  into  question  the  constitutionality  of  its  ordinances 
or  decrees,  but  when,  from  the  honest  impulses;  of  her  heart, 
and  the  strongest  convictions  of  her  judgment,  she  lias 
believed  them  unconstitutional.  If  opposed  to  any  partic- 
ular administration,  it  has  been  an  opposition  of  frani 


CHAP.  XL]  ELECTIONS,  &C.  421 

and  firmness  ;  and  if,  with  these  characteristics,  always 
honorable,  she  has  at  any  time  mixed  a  spice  of  indigna- 
tion, it  may  well  have  been  pardoned  by  the  head  and 
members  of  a  family  who  cannot  themselves  claim  exemp- 
tion from  the  frailties  of  our  nature,  and  who,  when  honor 
and  principle  were  at  stake,  might  have  seen  a  color  of 
virtue  in  a  momentary  departure  from  meekness,  humility 
and  patience.  But  Georgia  can  still  contend,  that,  in  re- 
spect to  all  questions  of  mere  interest,  to  which  her  con- 
nection with  the  Union  may  have  given  rise,  she  has 
discovered  as  little  of  selfishness,  as  much  of  generosity, 
and  of  forgiveness,  as  could  be  expected  from  a  sovereign 
and  independent  State,  claiming  rights  of  property  °of 
great  value,  demanded  by  the  wants  of  her  citizens,  and 
indispensable  to  the  complete  organization  of  her  social 
system.  Georgia  has  not  demanded  justice  of  the  Federal 
Government  in  her  day  of  tribulation,  of  difficulty  and  of 
embarrassment,  in  war,  or  in  the  midst  of  divided  councils, 
but  at  a  moment  when,  with  an  ample  treasury,  at  peace 
with  all  nations,  and  prosperous  beyond  example,  she  had 
her  option  to  do  us  justice,  or,  refusing  it,  to  present  a  mil- 
itary chest  and  armed  men.  If  the  United  States  choose 
to  rely  on  these,  and  Georgia,  taking  counsel  of  her  fears, 
shall  make  an  inglorious  surrender  of  her  rights,  what  will 
remain  of  the  fruit  of  her  toil  and  blood  and  public  virtue, 
but  a  consolidated  Government,  in  which  the  sovereignty 
and  independence  of  the  States  being  merged,  nothing  is 
left  her  but  the  power  of  a  municipal  corporation  to  settle 
the  strifes  and  contentions  of  individuals  within  the  freedom 
of  it? 

By  encroachment  on  the  one  side,  and  acquiescence  on 
the  other,  every  day  brings  us  nearer  to  this  result ;  and  if 
we  cannot  find  safety  in  the  first  principles  of  the  Cpnstitu- 
tion,  we  can  find  it  no  where. 

Your  fellow-citizen, 

G.  M.  TROTJP. 

One  of  the  first  duties  of  the  new  Legislature  was  the 
election  of  Judges,  an  Attorney  and  Solicitors-General. 
This  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  application  of  party  rule 
to  the  choice  of  judicial  affairs.  Judge  Wayne,  of  the 
Eastern  District,  was  the  only  member  of  the  Troup.  party 
who  was  re-elected — having  had  no  opposition.  Early  in 
the  session,  the  Governor  communicated  to  the  Legislature 


422  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

"  copies  of  an  official  document"  just  received,  u  by 
which,"  he  remarked,  "  you  will  see  that  the  two  Cherokee 
Chiefs,*  who,  on  a  late  occasion,  were  admitted  by  the 
I'nited  States  Agents  to  participate  in  the  Councils  at 
P>roken  Arrow,  and  dictate  the  talk  there,  have  been  de- 
nounced and  punished  by  their  own  Government,  for  an 
unauthorized  interference  in  the  ail'alrs  of  the  Ore 

On  the  21st  of  November,  he  also  sent  to  the  Legislature 
"  certain  testimony  recently  taken  by  the  Commissioners  on 
the  part  of  the  State,  additional  to  that  furnished  at  the 
opening  of  the  session,"  Arc.,  Arc.  —  a  part  of  which,  in  the 
form  of  affidavits,  we  have  already  inserted  ;  but  we  have 
not  room  for  further  extracts,  or  lor  the  "  exposition"  of 
the  United  States  Conn-  .  '  9.  Campbell  and 

Meriwether,  "  in  relation  to  the  late  treaty  concluded  by 
them  with  the  Creek  Indians,''   which  occupied  two  closely 
printed  pages  of  the  Georgia  Journal.     In  the  conch. 
of  the  exposition,  the  Commissioners  said  : 

"  Let  the  treaty,  then,  be  estimated  according  to  the  cir- 
cumstances which  attended  its  negotiation,  or  let  it  be  tried 
by  itself,  and  it  seems  to  us  that  the  most  rigid  observer 
would  be  at  a  loss  to  discover  a  competent  reason  for  its 
revision.  The  circumstances  were  such  as  ordinarily  at- 
tend such  transactions,  except  the  perfidious  opposition 
which  we  encountered,  and  a  treaty  was  never  formed 
with  Indians,  ImJf  so  benelicial  to  themselves  as  this.  No 
error,  then,  being  detected  in  the  treaty  itself,  or  in  the 
manner  of  its  obtainment,  we  are  to  look,  for  the  cause  of 
the  mischief,  to  the  manner  in  which  both  have  been 
mim  •/.  Let  those  who  have  originated  the  mi<- 

representations,  and  those  also  who  have  given  them  cur- 
rency, be  arraigned  before  their  own  consciences  and  their 
country,  and  we  know  that  their  trial  will  be  more  fearful 
than  ours." 

As  an  act  of  justice  to  these  gentlemen,  (now  both  dead,) 
and  as  intrinsic  to  the  subject  of  the  treaty,  we  should  be 
glad  to  publish  the  preamble  and  resolutions 


*  John  KM;.;.'  and  David  Y;mn,  \vlio  wi  if  di-poxd   from   the    National  Council   uf  tli^ 

Ch'Tok'Ts,  fur  ••  having  thought  proper  to   as*>ri;iti'    tli'-insclvrs  »• 
•ion,"  without  authority  uf  UK-  General  Council.—  KD. 


CHAP.  XL]  ACTION  OF  LEGISLATURE.  423 

adopted  by  the  Legislature,  and  approved  by  the  Gov- 
ernor on  2<ith  November.  We  make  room  for  the  resolu- 
tions : 

Resolved,  unanimously,  therefore,  by  the  Senate  and 
House  of  Representatives  of  the  State  of  Georgia,  in 
General  Assembly  met,  That  they  feel  deeply  and  grate- 
fully impressed  with  the  important  services  of  the  honorable 
Duncan  G.  Campbell  and  James  Meri wether,  in  obtaining 
the  late  cession  of  lands  from  the  Creek  Nation  of  Indians, 
and  that  their  confidence  remains  unimpaired  in  the  lionor, 
uprightness  and  integrity  of  those  gentlemen. 

Resolved,  further,  That  the  General  Assembly,  repre- 
senting the  feelings  and  wishes  of  the  good  citi/ens  of  this 
State,  do  not  hesitate  in  saying  that  they  conceive  that  the 
treaty  contains  in  itself  intrinsic  evidence  of  its  own  fair- 
ness, in  the  liberal  and  extended  provisions  which  it 
contains  for  the  removal,  preservation  and  perpetuity  of 
the  Creek  Nation  :  Such  treaty,  so  beneficial  to  the  United 
States,  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  the  Indians  themselves, 
having  been  negotiated  under  circumstances  requiring  the 
most  devoted  zeal,  persevering  industry  and  firmness,  .we 
pronounce  upon  the  conduct  of  the  Commissioners  our 
most  cordial  approbation,  and  that  a  copy  thereof  be  trans- 
mitted to  each  of  said  Commissioners,  and  also  a  copy  to 
each  of  our  Senators  and  Representatives  in  Congress. 

The  Committee  on  the  state  of  the  Republic,  in  the 
Senate,  made  a  report  on  the  subject  of  Indian  relations, 
which  was  passed  in  both  Houses,  and  approved  by  the 
Governor,  concluding  with  resolutions  expressive  of  their 
full  reliance  "  in  the  late  treaty,"  &c.,  "  that  the  title  of 
the  territory  obtained  by  said  treaty,  within  the  limits  of 
Georgia,  'is  considered  as  an  absolute,  vested  interest, 
and  that  nothing  short  of  the  whole  territory  thus 
acquired,  will  be  satisfactory  ;  and  that  the  right  of  entry, 
immediately  upon  the  expiration  of  the  time  limited  in  the 
treaty,  be  insisted  on,  and  accordingly  carried  into  effect"  ; 
also  approbatory  of  the  conduct  of  the  Governor  ;  request- 
ing the  removal  of  Col.  Crowell ;  and  concluding  with  a 
protest  against  a  reconsideration  of  the  treaty,  and  express- 
ing the  opinion,  in  regard  to  that  treaty,  that  "  if  there 
is  to  be  a  revision,  it  is  due  to  the  interests  and  rights  of 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XI. 

the   State   that  she  should  be  represented    in   the  entire 
proceedings,  as  well  preparatory  as  final."1 

During  this  session,  the  Legislature  passed  Acts  for  lay- 
ing out  and  organizing  the  counties  of  Thomas.  Lmvndes, 
Baker,  Lee,  Taliaferro  and  r>utt<  ;  and  an  Act  "  to  or<j< 
the  /•  fa-tihj  a  .••-•,  li/iiKj 

lictn'i.' a  tli>    Flint  and  ('lniff,i/t, ><>,-],,,    I,'' 
the  Chattahoochct   Bioer."     Four  counties  were    thus  laid 
out,  and  named,   respectively,  ]\I  .1  ' 

and  CAKKOLL  ;  the  iirst,  it  is  said,  "  in  honor  of  Mclntnsh, 
and  to  perpetuate  the  memory  of  the  Creek  }»eople.v 

The  Legislature  adjourned,  without  day,  on  22d  Decem- 
ber, after  enacting  various  other  laws,  which  we  cannot 
particularly  notice. 


CHAP.  XII.]  NEW  TREATY  WITH  THE  CREEKS.  425 


CHAPTER  XII. 

New  Treaty  concluded,  at  Washington,  with  the  Creek  Indians. — 
Difficulties,  Debates  and  Correspondence  growing  out  of  it. — 
More  trouble  with  the  CheroJtees. — Position  and  firmness  of 
Gov.  Troup  and  the  Georgia  Delegation. —  Gov.  Troup  pro- 
nounces a  eulogium  on  Jefferson  and  Adams. — Dinner  at  Indian 
Springs. — Survey  of  lands  ceded  by  old  Treaty. —  Threatened 
interruption  of  the  Surveyors. — Boundary  between  Georgia  and 
Alabama. — Meeting  of  the  Legislature. —  Governor's  Message. 
— Legislative  action. — Events  of  1827. —  Threatening  posture  of 
Indian  question. — Settlement  of  it,  &c.,  &c., 

Whilst  men  of  all  parties  in  Georgia  were  uniting  to 
give  effect  to  the  treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs,  under  which 
it  was  fondly  expected  Georgia  was  to  come,  within  less 
than  a  year,  into  possession  of  the  Creek  Country,  by  the 
actual  use  and  occupation  of  this  valuable  portion  of  terri- 
tory within  her  acknowledged  limits,  controversy,  of  a 
most  serious  nature,  and  threatening  discord  and  strife,  un- 
expectedly arose.  Congress  had  assembled  on  the  first 
Monday  of  December,  1825 ;  and  the  reports  of  General 
Gaines  and  Major  Andrews,  and  the  opposition  of  the  hos- 
tile Indians,  backed  by  the  interference  of  others,  had  not 
failed  to  produce  their  effect  on  the  mind  of  Mr.  Adams. 
In  his  opening  and  first  annual  message,  the  President,  after 
referring  to  the  treaty  of  Indian  Springs  as  having  been 
"  received  at  the  seat  of  Government  only  a  few  days  be- 
fore the  close  of  the  last  session  of  Congress  and  of  the  late 
administration,"  added : 

"The  advice  and  consent  of  the  Senate  was  given  to  it,  on 
the  3d  of  March,  too  late  for  it  to  receive  the  ratification  of 
the  then  President  of  the  United  States  ;  it  was  ratified  on 
the  7th  of  March,  under  the  unsuspecting  impression  that 
it  had  been  negotiated  in  good  faith,  and  in  the  confidence 
inspired  by  the  recommendation  of  the  Senate.  The  sub- 
sequent transactions,  in  relation  to  this  treaty,  will  form  the 
subject  of  a  separate  message." 
54 


426  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.- XII. 

The  "  unsuspecting  impression"  of  the  President  can  be 
accounted  for  only  on  the  idea,  that,  having  just  come  into 
office,  he  was  not  aware  of  the  existence  of  Col.  Crowell's 
letter  of  13th  February,  1825,  on  file  in  the  War  Depart- 
ment; or  that  no  faith  was  given  to  its  statements;  or  that 
the  statements,  even  if  regarded  as  true,  were  not  deemed 
sufficient  to  shake  the  President's  "impression."  Be  these 
conjectures  right  or  wrong,  itis  certain  that  on  24th  January, 
"1  *:><>,  the  Secretary  of  War,  by  authority  of  the  President, 
concluded  a  new  treaty  with  certain  persons  styled  the 
"  Chiefs  and  Head-men  of  the  Creek  Nation  of  Indians," 
at  Washington  City,  and  that  the  President  sent  it  in  to  the 
Senate  on  the  31st  of  the  same  month.  The  Chiefs,  who 
signed,  were  thirteen  in  number,  and  the  treaty  was  wit- 
nessed by  (amongst  others,)  John  Crowell,  Agent  for  Indian 
Affairs.  On  communicating  this  treaty  to  the  Senate,  the 
President  stated  that  the  old  treaty  had  been  ratified  by 
him  under  the  firm  belief  "  that  it  had  been  concluded  with 
a  large  majority  of  the  Chiefs  of  the  Creek  Nation,  and 
with  a  reasonable  prospect  of  immediate  acquiescence  by 
the  remainder,"  &c.,  tfcc.  He  proceeded  to  state  that  this 
expectation  had  not  merely  been  disappointed,  but  that 
troubles  had  ensued,  resulting  in  the  death  of  "  the  two 
principal  Chiefs  who  had  signed  it,"  and  that  the  "  families 
and  dependents"  of  these  Chiefs,  whilst  in  their  "  fugitive 
condition,"  &c.,  had  "  been  found  advancing  pretensions 
to  receive,  exclusively  to  themselves,  the  whole  of  the 
sums  stipulated,"  &c.,  "  in  payment  for  all  the  lands  of 
the  Creek  Xation  which  were  ceded  by  the  terms  of  the 
treaty,"  &c.,  &c. 

After  referring  to  the  anxious  desire  of  the  United  States 
to  carry  into  effect  the  treaty  of  Indian  Springs,  until  that 
was  found  impracticable,  &c.,  and  the  hope  that  the  assent 
of  the  Indians  would,  at  least,  "  have  been  given  to  a  treaty, 
by  which  all  their  lands  within  the  State  of  Georgia  should 
have  been  ceded,"  and  that  this  also  had  proved  impracti- 
cable, the  "  excepted  portion"  being  "  of  comparatively 
small  amount  and  importance,"  he  stated  that  he  had 


CHAP.  XII.]  PRESIDENT'S  VIEWS.  427 

assented  to  this  exception,  and  placed  it  before  the  Senate, 
"  only  from  a  conviction,  that,  between  it  and  a  resort  to 
the  forcible  expulsion  of  the  Creeks  from  their  habitations," 
&c.,  "there  was  no  middle  term."  After  stating  that 
the  "deputation"  with  which  the  new  treaty  had  been 
concluded,  consisted  "  of  the  principal  Chiefs  of  the  Nation, 
able  not  only  to  negotiate,  but  to  carry  into  effect  the  stip- 
ulations to  which  they  have  agreed,"  and  referring  to 
another  deputation,  then  also  at  Washington,  which  he 
characterized  as  "  from  the  small  party  which  undertook 
to  contract  for  the  whole  Nation,"  &c.,  "but  the  members 
of  which,  according  to  the  information  collected  by  Gen. 
Gaines,"  did  u  not  exceed  four  hundred,"  &c.,  he  added : 

"  In  referring  to  the  impressions  under  which  I  ratified 
the  treaty  of  the  12th  of  February  last,  I  do  not  deem  it 
necessary  to  decide  upon  the  propriety  of  the  manner  in 
which  it  was  negotiated.  Deeply  regretting  the  crimina- 
tions and  recriminations  to  which  these  events  have  given 
rise,  I  believe  the  public  interest  will  best  be  consulted  by 
discarding  them  altogether  from  the  discussion  of  the  sub- 
ject. The  great  body  of  the  Creek  Nation  inflexibly  refuse 
to  acknowledge  or  to  execute  that  treaty.  Upon  this 
ground,  it  will  be  set  aside,  should  the  Senate  advise  and 
consent  to  the  ratification  of  that  now  communicated,  with- 
out looking  back  to  the  means  by  which  the  other  was 
effected.  And,  in  the  adjustment  of  the  terms  of  the  pres- 
ent treaty,  I  have  been  peculiarly  anxious  to  dispense  a 
measure  of  great  liberality  to  both  parties  of  the  Creek 
Nation,  rather  than  to  extort  from  them  a  bargain,  of 
which  the  advantages  on  our  part  could  only  be  purchased 
by  hardship  on  theirs." 

Accompanying  this  message,  was  a  letter  from  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  to  the  President,  giving  an  account  of  the 
negotiation  for  the  treaty,  &c. 

The  principal  differences*  between  the  two  treaties,  were : 

1st.  By  the  new  treaty,  there  was,  with  a  small  exception, 
no  cession  of  any  land  west  of  the  middle  of  the  Chatta- 
hoochee — making,  as  was  supposed,  a  difference  to  Georgia 
of  about  1,000,000  acres  of  land,  besides  involving  the  ques- 

*  For  the  precise  differences,  the  reader  is  referred  to  the  treaties  in  the  7th  vol.  of  United 
States  Statutes  at  Large,  the  Governor's  Annual  Message  of  1826,  &c.— ED. 


428  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP  [Crur.  XII. 

tion  of  jurisdiction,  between  Georgia  and  Alabama,  of  the 
western  half  of  that  river  within  the  Creek  limits. 

2d.  The  new  treaty  fixed  the  time  of  removal  of  the 
Creeks  at  two  years,  instead  of  1st  September,  182G,  as 
fixed  by  the  old  treaty  :  although  possession  was  to  be  yield- 
ed on  or  before  1st  January,  1827. 

A  supplementary  article  was  added  to  the  treaty,  on 
31st  March,  not  important  to  be  noticed  here.'"" 

As  the  matter  of  this  treaty  was  an  Executive,  and  there- 
fore a  secret,  proceeding,  until  the  ratification  in  April, 
nothing  official  was  known  when  Governor  Troup  addressed 
the  following  letter  to  the  President : 

EXKCUTIY  i;  DKPAKT.M  i 
Jlilledgeville,  \\th  J  .   IM.JI).  i 

Sir  :  As  I  will  proceed,  on  the  second  day  of  September 
next,  under  the  authority  of  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  to 
occupy  the  country  ceded  by  the  treaty  concluded  at  the 
Indian  Springs,  on  the  twelfth  day  of  Februar  :  and 

as  the  running  of  the  dividing  line  between  this  State  and 
the  State  of  Alabama  must  necessarily  precede  the  su; 
which  will  immediately  follow  that  occupation  ;  as  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  having  been  formally 
invited  to  co-operate,  has,  in  declining  it  officially,  n 
known  to  the  Government  of  Georgia,  that  the  running  of 
the  line  is  a  matter  in  which  Georgia  and  Alabama  fire- 
alone  concerned,  and  with  which  the  United  States  have 
nothing  to  do  ;  as  Alabama  did  consent,  and,  it  is  believed, 
notified  that  consent  to  the  United  States,  as  she  certainly 
did  to  Georgia  ;  as  Alabama  is  well  disposed  to  co-operate 
with  Georgia  in  the  execution  of  the  work  ;  as  it  can  have 
no  assignable  connection  with  the  existence  or  non-existence 
of  the  treaty,  it  having  been  fixed  unalterably  by  the  Con- 
stitution and  the  Articles  of  Agreement,  as  the  permanent 
boundary ;  and  as  the  treaty  recognizes  and  confirms  it ; 
as  the  Government  of  Georgia  is  resolved,  after  having  en- 
countered very  many  obstacles,  equally  unlocked  for  and 
unnecessary,  to  carry  into  effect  its  repeated  decree  ;  as  the 

*  It  was,  evidently,  in  reference  to  the  critical  situation  of  Indian  Affair-.  ;h.it  il.r, . 
Troup.  on  28th  January,  1820,  issued  two  military  orders— one  for  enrolling  and  classifying 
the  militia,  and  the  other  for  their  review  and  inspection.  In  this  latter  order,  he  said  : 
"It  is  impossible  that  the  General  ofllcers  should  be  indifferent  to  the  crisis  in  which  th« 
country  finds  itself;  and,  from  his  personal  knowledge  of  tliftr.,  thy  Commandur-ii 
would  feel  ashamed  to  address  himself  to  their  patriotism  and  military  pride.'' — ED. 


CHAP.  XII.]  LETTER  TO  THE  PRESIDENT.  429 

season  will  soon  arrive  most  favorable  to  its  execution  with 
accuracy  and  precision  ;  and,  as  General  Gaines,  in  his 
letter  of  the  14th  June  last,  had,  in  the  name  of  his  Gov- 
ernment, expressly  forbid  the  running  of  the  line,  as  well 
as  the  survey  of  the  lands,  and  had  assembled  troops"  on 
the  frontier,  to  enforce  the  prohibition  ;  and,  as  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  by  the  order  of  the  President,  notified  the 
Government,  that  no  entry  upon,  or  survey  of,  the  country 
would  be  permitted ;  and,  moreover,  directed  the  Com- 
manding General  to  employ  a  military  force  to  prevent 
any  such  entry  or  survey ;  it  is  respectfully  asked  of  the 
President,  whether  his  resolution  in  these  respects  remains 
unchanged,  and,  if  unchanged,  whether  the  military  force 
will  be  employed  against  us,  with  or  without  the  auxiliary  aid 
and  co-operation  of  the  savages,  or  whether  these,  last  will 
be  restrained  by  the  authority  of  the  United  States  from 
interposing  their  arms  at  all ;  or  whether  they  will  be  left  to 
the  indulgence  of  their  natural  feelings,  under  the  artificial 
excitements  of  the  day,  to  assume  the  character  of  neutrals, 
or  of  partisans  and  marauders,  as  those  feelings  and  ex- 
citements may  dictate  ?  It  is  hoped  and  expected  that  the 
frankness  of  the  President's  answer  will  correspond  with 
the  importance  of  the  occasion  which  prompts  to  this 
inquiry,  so  that  nothing  hereafter  will  be  chargeable  to  the 
imperfection  of  our  language,  or  the  insincerity  of  either 
of  the  parties.  And  that  the  president  may  be  in  full 
possession  of  the  considerations  which  influence  this  Gov- 
ernment, and,  more  especially,  that  he  may  acquit  the 
authorities  here  of  precipitancy,  prejudice,  or  undue 
diffidence  in  the  wisdom  and  patriotism  of  the  councils 
of  the  Union,  I  will  take  the  liberty  to  submit  the  docu- 
mentary and  official  evidence,  which,  it  is  trusted,  will 
sustain  and  justify  this  Government  in  the  eyes  of  the 
world,  in  the  measures  to  which,  for  its  own  safety,  it 
may  be  obliged  to  have  recourse. 

First— then,  the  running  of  the  dividing  line  between 
Alabama  and  this  State,  has  no  assignable  connection  with 
the  existence  or  non-existence  of  the  treaty ;  the  right  to 
run  the  line  having  accrued  to  Georgia,  by  the  articles  of 
agreement  and  cession,  of  1802 ;  a  right  undisputed  until 
now,  and  which  ought  to  be  indisputable  now,  because  i 
that  time  made  by  the  Constitution  the  permanent  bound- 
ary of  the  State. 

»    Gen.  Gaines  iTtxTlieved  to  have  had  one  thousand  regulars  in  the  Indian  country, 
at  the  time  to  which  the  Governor  refers.— ED. 


430  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROFP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

Tlie  Constitution,  in  tin  'Ction  of  the  1st  article, 

after  defining  the  boundaries  of  the  State,  proceeds  to  au- 
thorize a  sale  to  the  (Tinted  State?,  under  the  authority  of 
the  Legislature;  but,  that  sale  being  effected,  (as  it  was  by 
the  articles  of  agreement  and  cc-sion,  of  1802,)  the  remain- 
ing territory  is  declared  to  be  the  property  of  the  whole 
body  of  the  people,  and  inalienable  but  by  themsc' 

Secondly, — the  repeatedly  official  assertion  of  the  right 
of  Georgia  ;  the  official  concurrence  of  Alabama ;  and  the 
official  acquiescence  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States. 

Thirdly.  The  public  acts  and  resolutions  of  Georgia, 
have  kept  separate  and  distinct  the  subject  of  running  the 
line,  and  that  of  surveying  the  lands,  any  farther  than  that 
the  one  must  necessarily  precede  the  other.  But,  with 
respect  to  the  right  to  run  the  line  at  pleasure,  never  hav- 
ing entertained  but  one  opinion  concerning  it,  and  disclaim- 
ing any  authority  on  the  part  of  the  United  States  to 
bring  if  int •>  coir  :it  all,  whilst,  in  deference  to  the 

Councils  of  the  :  .ature  consented  to  ] 

pone    th<  ,    they  did  not  consent  lo   postpone  the 

running  of  the  fine,  and  •  left  it  where  they  found 

it,  viz.:  discretionary  with  the  Executive  to  run  it  when- 
ever he  might  deem  proper.  When  the  Legislature  au- 
thorized the  Executive  to  postpone  the  survey  until  the 
expiration  of  the  time  limited  by  the  treaty,  but  to  pro- 
ceed in  it  immediately  at  Hie  expiration  of  that  time,  they 
could  not  have  intended  to  postpone  the  running  of  the 
line,  because,  as  that  must  necessarily  precede  the  sui 
such  postponement  would  defeat  the  survey. 

Fourthly.  The  Legislature  were  therefore  indifferent 
whether  the  treaty  was  declared  null  and  void,  or  not,  as 
regarded  the  running  of  the  line  ;  the  running  having  been 
ordered  long  before  the  treaty  was  even  in  contemplation, 
had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  and  therefore  was  to  be  carried 
into  execution,  whether  such  a  treaty  was  ever  brought  into 
existence  or  not.  If  the  treaty  expedites  the  running  now, 
it  is  only  because  the  running  must  necessarily  precede  the 
survey,  which  Avill  commence  on  the  2d  day  of  September 
next,  the  day  after  the  time  limited  by  the  treaty  for  the 
occupation  of  the  Indians. 

Fifthly.  We  are  prohibited,  by  military  force,  from 
running  the  same  description  of  boundary  line  which  we 
are  almost  daily  in  the  practice  of  running,  without  murmur 
or  complaint  from  the  General  Government.  1  mean  the 
exterior  boundary  line  which  separates  our  frontier  counties 


CHAP.  XII.]  LETTER  CONTINUED.  4.3! 

from  the  Indians.  Here  the  Indians  are  equally  liable  to 
trespass,  encroachment,  and  interruption  of  all  kinds,  from 
the  whites ;  to  be  cheated  and  defrauded  of  their  effects, 
ill  treated  in  their  persons,  and  even  their  lands  taken  from 
them  by  the  unskilfulness  or  dishonesty  of  surveyors.  It 
has  been  shown,  that,  in  the  contemplated  measure,  the 
Government  of  the  United  States  has  been  repeatedly  in- 
vited to  participate,  not  only  to  protect  its  own  interests, 
but  those  of  the  Indians  ;  the  Indians  themselves  would 
have  been  invited.  In  running  the  line  between  the  Chero- 
kees  and  Georgia,  under  the  treaty,  both  the  United  States 
and  the  Cherokees  would  be  invited  to  be  present.  If  the 
Indians,  therefore,  should,  in  either  instance,  suffer  detri- 
ment by  an  act  of  the  Government  of  Georgia,  the  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  would  be  there  present  to  correct 
or  redress  it. 

Sixthly.  Other  States  have  run  lines,  separating  their 
territory  from  that  of  the  Indians,  without  permission  of 
the  General  Government ;  the  States  of  Tennessee  and 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia  have  done  so,  and  their  legal- 
ity has  not  been  questioned  by  that  Government.  In  many 
instances,  too,  these  lines  have  passed  through  territory  in 
the  exclusive  occupation  of  the  Indians.  (See  the  Reports 
of  the  Commissioners  of  the  State,  one  dated  15th  October, 
1819,  the  other  dated  13th  July,  1818,  running  the  lines 
between  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina  and  Georgia.) 

Seventhly.  The  Executive  of  the  United  States  has  re- 
peatedly, uniformly,. and  without  reservation  or  condition, 
admitted  the  right  of  Georgia  both  to  run  the  line  and 
make  the  survey  at  the  expiration  of  the  time  limited  by  the 
treaty  ;  and,  in  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  so  late 
as  the  30th  day  of  August  last,  viz  :  after  the  Government 
had  been  placed  in  possession  of  all  the  information  which 
it  now  has,  of  the  bribery  and  corruption  and  abuse  of  in- 
structions, practiced  to  procure  it,  the  Executive  of  the 
United  States  expressed  itself  highly  gratified  and  delighted 
that  the  Executive  of  Georgia  had  consented  to  postpone 
the  survey,  even  until  the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  of 
the  State.  It  will  be  seen,  on  comparing  the  correspond- 
ence and  official  message  of  the  Governor  with  the  para- 
graph of  the  letter  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  (marked  E) 
that  the  Secretary  has  committed  a  very  great  error.  So 
far  from  the  Governor  consenting  to  await  the  decision  of 
the  Cono-ress,  he  protested,  in  the  most  positive  terms, 
against  a  reference  of  the  treaty  at  all.  The  Governor 


432  LIFE  OF  GEORGE   M.  TROUP.  [CHAP,  XII. 

never  engaged  to  do  more  than  to  postpone  the  survey  un- 
til the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  of  the  Statf. 

You  have  perceived,  Sir,  from  every  past  indication  of 
public  sentiment,  that  nothing  can  shake  the  confidence  of 
the  Government  and  the  people  of  Georgia  in  the  validity 
of  the  treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs  ;  and,  as  I  flatter  myself 
with  the  hope  that  the  preceding  illustration  may  afford 
some  insight  into  the  absolute  right  of  the  State  of  Geor- 
gia to  run  the  dividing  line  between  Georgia  and  Alabama, 
whensoever  she  pleases,  I  have  taken  the  liberty  to  trouble 
you  thus  far. 

It  is  my  unpleasant  duty  to  trespass  upon  your  attention 
yet  a  little  longer.  Information,  not  wholly  of  official 
character,  has  been  received,  that,  in  the  new  treaty  lately 
negotiated  with  the  hostile  Chiefs,  a  line  has  been  desig- 
nated as  a  true  dividing  line  between  the  two  tribes,  by 
which  something  like  300,00* >  acres  of  land,  as  acquired 
by  the  treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs,  are  taken  from  us  and 
given  to  the  Cherokees.  For  this  treaty.  <  .  we 

care  nothing;  because, in  declaring  the  inviolability  of  the 
old,  we  have  already  proclaimed  the  invalidity  of  the  ' 
But  neither  yourself  nor  myself  can  be  altogether  indiffer- 
ent to  the  consequences  of  this  ill-judged  measure.  A  false 
line  has  been  adopted,  which  favors  the  Cherokees  ;  the 
true  one,  which  favors  the  Georgians,  blotted  out.  The 
true  line  will  be  the  one  followed  by  the  Commissioners  of 
Georgia,  who  are  appointed  to  run  it.  The  false  line  will 
be  the  one  claimed  by  the  Cherokees  as  the  true  one.  I 
much  fear  you  have  not  been  made  familiar  with  the  terri- 
torial history  of  both  tribes ;  it  is  short,  but  not,  on  that 
account,  the  more  appropriate  to  the  subject  of  this  letter. 
But  I  cannot  help  saying  to  you,  that,  of  all  the  measures 
which  you  have  thought  proper  to  adopt  in  relation  to  the 
matters  in  controversy  between  the  two  Governments, 
there  is  no  one  which  has  given  me  more  pain  or  solicitude, 
because,  no  one  partaking  of  more  injustice,  hardship, 
and  oppression,  than  that  now  complained  of.  In  giving  a 
new  boundary  to  the  Cherokees,  you  have  given  them  new 
feelings,  hostile  to  the  interests  and  people  of  Georgia  : 
they  will  recognize  no  other  line,  in  future,  than  that  you 
have  thought  proper  to  prescribe  ;  they  will  suffer  none 
other  to  be  run,  but  by  coercion  of  the  sword.  Without 
any  controversy  between  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees,  in- 
volving territorial  boundary,  or  bringing  this  line  into 
question,  but  such  as  might  easily,  according  to  their 
usages  and  customs,  have  been  settled  among  themselves, 


CHAP.  XII.]  LETTER  TO  THE  PRESIDENT.  433 

you  have  become,  gratuitously,  a  volunteer  in  the  service  of 
the  Cherokees,  to  procure  for  them,  by  cession,  from  the 
hostile  Chiefs,  lands  which  belonged  neither  to  them  nor  to 
the  Cherokees,  but  which  belonged  more  particularly  to  the 
friendly  Creeks,  and  which  now  belong  to  us,  by  cession 
from  both  friendly  and  hostile  Chiefs ;  thus  giving  to  the 
Cherokees  a  little  more  space  for  the  pursuits  of  agricul- 
ture and  the  civilized  arts,  by  a  permanent  location  assured 
to  them,  adverse  to  the  claims  and  demands  of  Georgia, 
and  preparing  them  for  the  promised  admission  into  the 
Union  as  an  independent  State.  Not  only  so  ;  you  will 
probably  have  caused,  on  all  these  accounts,  an  expenditure 
of  blood  and  treasure  to  the  State  of  Georgia,  from  which 
she  would  have  been  otherwise  exempt.  And  suffer  me, 
in  no  unkindly  spirit,  to  inquire,  if  such  be  the  consequen- 
ces resulting  from  these,  what  will  be  those  which  must 
follow  the  ulterior  and  not  distant  assertion,  by  Georgia, 
of  her  right  to  all  the  territory  of  the  Cherokees  within 
the  limits  settled  by  the  articles  of  agreement  and  cession. 

One  of  two  things  has  happened  :  either  the  people  of 
Georgia,  and  the  authorities  who  represent  them,  have,  by 
the  illusions  of  interest  or  prejudice,  or  both,  been  over- 
whelmed by  sudden  and  impenetrable  darkness,  benumb- 
ing and  stupifying  their  faculties  ;  or  the  councils  of  those 
of  whose  measures  they  complain,  have  been  directed  by  a 
strange  infatuation. 

The  old  treaty  is  proposed  to  be  annulled,  either  because^ 
of  corruption  practiced  to  procure  it ;  of  an  abuse  of 
powers  by  the  Commissioners ;  of  an  inadequate  represen- 
tation of  "the  nation  ;  or  of  the  boundary  on  one  side  being 
an  artificial,  instead  of  a  natural,  boundary.  If  an  irre- 
versible sentence  of  denunciation  and  annulment  is  to  be 
pronounced  against  the  old  treaty,  because  of  these,  what  is 
to  become  of  the  new  ?  The  old  treaty,  negotiated  by  your 
own  agents,  in  the  woods,  seven  hundred  miles  from  the 
seat  of  government,  with  nothing  but  their  written  in- 
structions to  direct  them,  in  a  simple,  unostentatious  man- 
ner, without  any  display  of  power,  not  even  a  guard  or 
an  escort,  and  with  a  comparatively  limited  command  of 
money,  with  a  fore-knowledge  of  their  accountability  to 
you,  both  for  the  fulfilment  of  their  instructions  and  the 
appropriation  of  the  money,  and,  finally,  the  formal  rati- 
fication, agreeably  to  the  forms  enjoined  by  the  Constitu- 
tion. 

The  new  treaty,  negotiated  at  Washington,  in  the  pres- 

55 


4: 14  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTT.  [CiiAP.  XII. 

ence  of  the  Government,  -with  enough  of  pomp  and  circum- 
stance to  dazzle  or  over-awe  ;  where  a  smile  gives  animation 
and  buoyancy  to  despair ;  and  where  the  lion-hearted  savage 
himself  can  he  made  to  quake  and  cower  heueath  a  frown  ; 
where  moneyed  means  lead  into  temptation,  and  the  annals 
of  Indian  diplomacy  furnish  no  moral  nomenclature  by 
which  to  estimate  the  terms,  perfidious,  treacherous,  &c. ; 
where  instructions  could  be  varied,  from  hour  to  hour,  to 
every  exigency ;  where,  indeed,  any  party  might  bo  con- 
sidered as  the  Xation,  and  any  boundary  a  good  one:  it 
is  under  all  these  circumstances  that,  at  Washington,  we  are 
to  presume  the  existence  of  per!  v/ill,  un- 

controlled and  unconstrained,  united  to  the  romantic  love 
of  country,  dictating  every  article  and  paragraph  <>i'  the 
new  treaty:  wliils:,  in  the  ia,  the  same 

freedom   has    been   corrupted  by  gold,  and  the  will  n 
rected  to  the  ruin  <-f  Indian  rights  and  ii •: 

"We  cannot  look  upon  these  things  v.-ith  the  yes; 

but,  when  the  effects  and  consequences  come,  however  they 
may  IK;  regarded  by  oilers.  I  can  assure  you  they  will  in- 
flict a  deep  wound  upon  ourselves.  Ti  itedexp* 
and  the  almost  inevitable  bloodshed,  in  running  both  the 
Alabama  and  Cherokee  1:  .  itiiing  of  the  multi- 
plied obstacles  opposed  to  the  Executive  of  Georgia,  in  the 
execution  of  his  duties,  by  these  unfortunate  events,  com- 
bine to  make  this  a  long,  complaining,  and,  perhaps,  impor- 
tunate letter. 

rlhe  same  public  duty  which  impels"  me  to  write,  will 
incline  you  to  a  patient  reading.  We  are  never  better 
employed  than  in  hearing  the  griefs  and  lamentations  of  our 
friends,  unless,  in  the  kindliest  of  all  offices,  thi  nag- 

ing  and  comforting  them. 

With  the  highest  consideration, 

11  your  obedient  servant, 

G.  M.  TRO; 
The  President  of  the  United  States. 

Accompanying  this  letter,  as  exhibits,  were  several  doc- 
uments; but  their  insertion  here  would  be  of  no  special 
importance. 

The  new  treaty   was  ratified   on  the  i;iM  April,  ls:_'i;.::- 

:    YEAS — 

BouKgny,  ]; 
- 

Mills,  Noble,  Ramloli  mour,  Smith,  Tlioi::  \Villry-30. 

NATB — Mcr-srs.  BSKF.IKN,  Cous,  II 


CHAP.  XII.]  SUBJECT  OF  NEW  TREATY.  435 

As  early  as  24th  December,  1825,  the  Secretary  of  "War 
had  addressed  a  letter  to  the  Georgia  Delegation,'-"  in  Con- 
gress, stating  that,  "  with  the  strongest  desire  to  relieve  the 
controversy  with  the  Creeks,  so  far  as  Georgia  was  partic- 
ularly concerned,"  &c.,  the  Executive  had  been  "  negotiat- 
ing, for  some  time  past,  on  the  basis  of  a  surrender  of  all 
their  lands  within  the  limits  of  Georgia,"  &c. — that  "  the 
prospect  of  success  was,  for  a  time,  flattering,"  but  "  recent 
events"  had  "  entirely  dissipated  it,  as  to  the  whole  of  their 
lands  in  Georgia  ; "  that  they  were,  however,  "  willing  to 
make  a  cession  to  the  east  of  the  Chattahoochee,  insisting 
on  the  necessity  of  a  natural  boundary  as  a  protection 
against  those  trespasses  which  they  suffer  when  separated 
only  from  the  white  population  by  an  artificial  line,"&c. — 
that  the  Indians  having  "  encumbered  this  proposition  with 
some  conditions  which"  were  "  exceptionable, "  &c.,  the 
President  had  "  refused  to  accept  any  proposition  short  of  an 
entire  cession  within  the  limits  of  Georgia,"  &c.;  that,  "to 
a  communication  signifying  this  determination  on  the  part 
of  the  Executive,"  the  Indian  Delegation  had  returned  a 
"  reply,"  which  the  Secretary  of  War  submitted  to  the 
Georgia  Delegation,  stating  that  Georgia's  "  wishes  on  the 
question  which  the  Executive  finds  itself  obliged  to  decide, 
would  have  a  great  influence  on  its  decision,"  &c.,  &c. 

The  substance  of  the  "  reply"  of  the  Indians,  may  be 
condensed  in  the  following  paragraph  : 

"  Our  Nation  respectfully  demands  the  repeal  of  the  treaty 
of  the  Indian  Springs  in  February  last.  In  doing  this,  suf- 
ficient reasons  are  assigned,  and  none  stronger  to  be  found 
on  earth,  than  the  fact  that  our  Nation,  in  its  legal  capacity, 
was  not  a  party  to  the  treaty,  and  that  they  have  refused  to 
ratify  a  bargain  calculated  to  annihilate  the  happiness  of 
our  people." 

In  replying  to  the  Secretary,  on  7th  January,  1820,  the 
Georgia  Delegation  stated  that  their  answer  had  been  de- 
layed, by  the  absence  from  Washington  of  some  of  their 

*  Then  consistin-  of  Messrs.  Berricu  ana  Cobb,  in  the  Somite.,  and  Uamn.  C.«ry.  A.  Cutli- 
bert,  Forsyth,  Haynes,  Meriwether,  (one  of  the  Commissioners  who  had  negotiated  th-  ti 
at  Indian  Springs,  of  12th  Feb.,  1825.)  Tattnall  and  Thompson,  in  the  House.— ED. 


4-36  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

number,  and  "not  that  any  difference  of  opinion  among 
them  would  be  anticipated,''  &c. — that  they  had  learned 
with  pleasure  the  anxiety  of  the  President  "  to  relieve 
the  controversy  with  the  Creeks  from  all  difficulty,''  &c. — 
that  whilst  they  had  u  no  express  instructions  <m  the  sub- 
ject," and  "  did  not  feel  authorized  to  determine  what  were 
the  wishes  of  the  State;"  yet,  in  regard  to  the  question 
"whether  it  is  most  advisable  to  refer  the  treaty,  with  the 
objections  to  its  validity,  to  Congress,  for  their  decision,  <>;•, 
accepting  a  new  basis  of  the  Chattahoochee  us  a  boundary," 
&c.,  "  to  resume  a  negotiation,  with  a  hope  that  certain 
exceptionable  conditions  coupled  with  it,"  &c.,  "  may  be 
satisfactorily  modified,"  &c.,  they  expressed  the  opinion 
that  "  neither  branch  of  the  alternative"  proposed  "  would 
meet  the  wishes  of  the  State  of  Georgia,"  &c.  They 
said  : 

"The  State,  we  believe,  does  not.  and  cannot  suppose  that 
Congress  will  entertain  a  question  concerning  the  original 
validity  of  a  treaty  ratified  and  promulgated  by  the  propv-r 
departments,  with  all  the  solemnities  required  by  the  Consti- 
tution ;  to  which  no  objections  are  now  urged  which  were 
not  distinctly  presented  to  the  President,  prior  to  its  sub- 
mission to  the  Senate,  and  by  him  as  distinctly  brought  to 
the  view  of  that  body,  when  asking  their  advice  and  con- 
sent," &c. 

Adding  a  suggestion,  that  the  "  evidence"  on  which  the 
treaty  was  assailed,  had  been  "  obtained  by  means  totally 
adverse  to  and  inconsistent  with  the  ju  of  the 

President  of  the  United  States,  because  adverse  to  and  in- 
consistent with  the  ascertainment  of  truth,"  they  concluded : 

"  They  know  and  they  feel  that  the  Indian  Agent,  pr 
ing  by  the  excitement  of  feeling  into  which  the  Special 
Agent  of  the  Government  had  unhappily  fallen,  has  unduly 
exerted  the  influence  of  his  station,  to  obtain  from  persons, 
for  the  most  part  subject  to  his  control,  a  statement  of  cir- 
cumstances which  have  no  foundation  in  fact,  and,  from 
those  untutored  savages  who  were  committed  to  his  protec- 
tion, an  expression  of  feelings  which  the  great  body  of  the 
Nation  do  not  entertain.  They  know  and  they  feel  that  to 
lift  the  veil  from  this  transaction,  to  expose  its  real  charac- 


CHAP.  XII.]  OPPOSITION  TO  NEW  TREATY. 

ter  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  it  is  only  neces- 
sary that  that  influence  should  be  withdrawn.  They  still 
hope  that  the  earnest  wishes  of  a  faithful  member  of  the 
American  Confederacy,  will  not  be  urged,  in  vain,  before  the 
Chief  Executive  Magistrate  ;  and,  with  this  knowledge, 
this  feeling  and  this  hope,  they  cannot  permit  themselves 
to  believe  that  the  President  will  ultimately  adopt  either 
branch  of  the  alternative  which  you  propose.  On  the  con- 
trary, they  rely,  that,  with  a  just  respect  to  the  rights  of"  the 
State,  and  a  paternal  regard  to  the  wishes  and  feelings  of 
her  people,  he  will,  by  the  recall  of  this  officer,  remove 
the  whole  source  of  this  unhappy  controversy,  give  to 
Georgia  peace  throughout  her  borders,  and  tranquillity  and 
happiness  to  the  children  of  the  forest." 

With  what  effect  these  appeals  were  urged,  has  been 
seen.  It  is  with  deep  regret  we  find  our  limits  will  not 
permit  us  to  record  here  the  efforts  of  Messrs.  Berrien  and 
Cobb,  on  the  floor  of  the  Senate,  to  prevent  the  ratification 
of  the  new  treaty.  Before  he  had  learned  of  the  action  of 
the  Georgia  Delegation,  as  above  detailed,  Governor  Troup 
wrote  to  them  the  following  letter: 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT, 
Milledgeville,  §tk  January,  1826. 
Gentlemen  :  I  am  supported  on  a  sick  bed,  only  to 
express  my  confident  expectation  that  you  will  not  enter- 
tain, for  a  moment,  the  proposition  submitted  by  the  United 
States,  on  the  part  of  the  hostile  Indians,  that  proposition 
being  inconsistent  with  the  treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs, 
which  is  to  be  considered  inviolable,  and  the  more  so,  as 
the  Legislature  of  this  State  has  again  explicitly  recognized 
that  inviolability,  and  directed  the  Executive,  as  hereto- 
fore, to  carry  the  treaty  into  full  effect,  according  to  its 
stipulations.  The  treaty  being  the  supreme  law,  and  the 
Articles'of  agreement  and  cession  having  established  the  per- 
manent boundary,  in  conformity  with  the  23d  section  of  the 
first  Article  of  the  Constitution,  no  human  authority  exists 
to  change  or  alter  one  tittle  of  it,  save  the  whole  people 
in  convention  assembled.  I  even  regret  that  you  should 
have  considered  it  of  any  importance  to  make  the  con- 
cession that  Georgia  might  have  been  satisfied  by  a  further 
partial  extinguishment  of  territory,  as  it  had  been  my 
settled  purpose,  from  the  beginning,  so  far  as  depended  on 


LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

me,  never  to  receive  from  the  United  States  one  square  foot 
less  than  the  entire  country  within  the  limits  of  Georgia. 
You  now  see  that  if  Georgia  had  received  le<s,  she  n* 
would  have  received  more:  nevertheless,  I  know  you  to 
have  been  governed  l>y  the  most  pure  and  patriotic  mo- 
tives throughout 

"With  irreal  consideration  and  respect, 

G.  M.  TROIT. 

Again,  on  7th  February,  he  wrote  the  Delegation,  that, 
from  a  suggestion  contained  in  a  letter  received  l>y  him 
from  Washington,  he  was  apprehensive  that  a  sentence  in 
the  foregoing  letter  had  been  misconstrued  ;  that,  "  in 
speaking  of  a  concession  made  by  the  Delegation,  noth- 
ing more  was  meant  than  .vhich,  in  answer 
to  the  Secretary  of  War,"  the  Delegation  "thought  it  of 
sufficient  importance  to  make,  \\/.:  thai  <u-org:a  might 
have  been  satisfied,  for  the  time,  with  an  extinguishment 
of  Indian  claims  to  a  less  amount  than  that  embr; 
within  the  limits  prescribed  by  the  Article^  of  Agreement. 
and  Cession  ;  a  most  innocent  ion,  indeed,"  said  he, 
"because  you  could  not  know  that  the  Legislature  would 
or  would  not  accept  such  a  treaty,"  Arc.  Referring  to  his 
"  entire  correspondence  with  the  General  Government," 
from  his  first  letter  to  Mr.  Calhonn,  then  Secretary  of 
War,  he  said  the  Delegation  would  see  that  he  had  "  con- 
sidered the  surrender  of  the  whole  as  a  aim  <pm  non?  ivc. 
After  speaking  of  '•  the  hostile  Indians  dictating  the 
permanent  boundary  of  the  State,  to  suit  their  convenience, 
aird  the  Executive  Government  of  the  Union  deigning  gra- 
ciously to  receive  that  dictation,"  &c.,  he  added  : 

"  Xot  one  word  was  written,  or  intended  to  be  written, 
about  your  having  made  a  concession  of  aright  of  any  kind  : 
a  concession  which  the  writer  knew  it  would  be  as  difficult  to 
extract  from  you,  as  from  your  friend  and  humble  servant.'" 

Meanwhile,   the  Governor's   health  was   suffering  from 
the  cares  of  office  and  too  close  confinement  to  bust] 
The  following  extract  from  a  private  letter,  is  not  without 
interest : 


CHAP.  XII.]  SENATORS  BERRIEN  AND   COBB.  439 

MlLLEDGEVILLE,  20tll  Feb.,  1826. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  * 

If  I  could  spend  a  fortnight  with  yon,  my  health  and 
spirits  would  be  restored.  As  it  is,  I  am  oppressed  to  death 
with  business  which  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  turn  my  back 
on,  and  which  is  accumulating  faster  than  I  progress 
in  physical  ability  to  labor  through  it ;  so  that,  at  bed- 
time, nature  is  not  only  wearied,  but  entirely  exhausted. 
Hence,  the  snail-pace  improvement  of  a  condition  of  body, 
which,  under  more  favorable  circumstances,  would  have 
been  comparatively  vigorous  and  healthful,  weeks  ago. 
God  knows  what  is  to  be  the  end  of  it ;  for  I  dread  a  re- 
lapse more  than  death  :  yet,  the  business  must  go  on. 

Very  sincerely  and  affectionately, 
Dr.  Daniell.  '  G.  M.  TROTJP. 

[1826.]  On  the  22d  of  April,  Messrs.  Berrien  and  Cobb 
wrote  separate  letters  to  the  Governor,  announcing  the 
decision  of  the  Senate  on  the  new  treaty,  and  their  unsuccess- 
ful efforts  so  to  modify  its  provisions,  as  to  render  them  less 
objectionable  to  Georgia,  and  to  do  justice  to  the  Mclntosh 
Indians,  &c.,  &c.  The  limits  of  this  work  do  not  permit 
the  publication  of  these  letters  of  the  Georgia  Senators. 
Mr.  Cobb  spoke  of  the  able  support  of  Judge  "White,  of 
Tennessee ;  and  Judge  Berrien,  of  the  "  frank  and  cordial 
support  from  General  Harrison,  of  Ohio,  from  Col.  Hayne, 
of  South  Carolina,  from  Mr.  Yan  Buren,  of  oSTew  York  • 
and,  though  last,  not  least,  from  Judge  White,  of  Ten. 
nessee." 

To  Messrs.  Cobb  and  Berrien,  Governor  Troup  wrote : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,      ) 
Milledgeville,  tth  May,  1820.  ) 

Gentlemen  :  I  have  received  the  several  communications 
which  you  did  me  the  favor  to  write,  explanatory  of  the 
proceedings  of  the  Senate,  connected  with  the  amendment 
of  the  old,  and  adoption  of  the  new,  treaty.  It  gave  me 
pleasure  to  learn  that  you  had  disapproved  those  proceed- 
ngs,  and  voted  against  the  instrument  called  the  new 
itreaty. 

I  recognize  no  power  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States, 
in  conjunction  with  the  President,  to  abrogate,  for  any 
political  consideration  whatever,  any  treaty  constitutionally 


440  LIFE  OF  GEORGE   M.  TROFP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

ratified  ;  much  less  the  power  assumed  by  that  body,  to  re- 
voke an  Article  of  the  Convention  of  ISOi*,  between  the 
United  States  and  Georgia,  which  establishes  the  boundary 
between  Georgia  and  Alabama,  and  to  prescribe  a  new 
boundary  different  from  and  inconsistent  with  it. 

I  recognize  no  power,  in  tin-  Piv-ident  and  Senate,  to 
guaranty  t<>  the  Indians,  in  perpetuity,  those  lands,  which, 
by  the  Convention,  they  were  pledged  to  surrender  to  Geor- 
gia at  an'  early  day,  and  which  ought  to  have  been  surren- 
der ed  long  ;: 

I  cannot  admit  that  the  President  and  Senate  can  render 
null  and  void,  an  act  of  the  Legislature  of  this  State, 
founded  on  a  treaty  constitutionally  ratitied.  by  an  arbitrary 
revocation  of  that  treaty. 

The  cancelmentof  the  old  treaty  had  been  resolved,  right 
or  wrong;  lor,  this  extraordinary  and  unheard  of  measure 
was  taken  on  the  naked  allegation  of  the  President,  unsup- 
ported by  a  single  document;  whilst  the  ungenerous  rebuke, 
by  the  President,  of  the  friendly  Chief's,  in  his  official 
message,  shows  the  temper  which  dictated  it. 

Unless  all  the  sources  of  information  here,  shall  prove  to 
be  erroneous  and  deceptive,  the  State  (if  the  validity  of  the 
new  treaty  be  admitted,)  has  been  defrauded  of  one  million 
of  acres  of  her  very  best  lauds. 

Do  me  the  favor  to  present  my  best  thanks  to  General 
Harrison,  Colonel  Hayne,  and  Mr.  Van  Buren,  arid  Judge 
"White,  for  their  able  and  liberal  co-operation  with  you.  in 
the  cause  of  the  weak  against  the  strong;  and,  as  F  trust, 
of  the  just  against  the  unjust. 

With  great  respect  and  consideration, 

G.  M.  TKOUP. 

To  another  letter  from  the  Governor,  Judge  Berrien  re- 
plied on  30th  May,  giving,  more  particularly,  the  grounds 
of  opposition  to  the  treaty,  the  injunction  of  secrecy  hav- 
ing been  previously  removed  from  the  proceedings  of  the 
Senate.  Unable  to  insert  the  entire  letter,  we  give  the 
following  synopsis.* 

Speaking  of  the  opposition  of  Mr.  Cobb  and  himself,  he 
said  : 

"Our  course  on  this  subject  was  plain  and  straight- 
forward. We  denied  the  power  of  Congress  to  annul  the 

*  Mr.  Cobb  was  absent,  owing  to  domestic  misfortunes,  and  could  not  join  in  thin 
letter. — ED. 


CHAP.  XII.]  LETTER  OF  SENATOR  BERRIEST.  441 

old  treaty,  without  the  consent  of  Georgia.  We  de- 
clared onr  readiness  to  investigate,  and  our  ability  to  repel, 
any  charge  of  fraud  which  could  be  brought  against  it ; 
but  we  refused  to  consider  the  depositions  taken  by  Gen. 
Gaines  and  Major  Andrews,  as  evidence  on  this  question, 
because  they  were  exparte,  were  taken  in  a  collateral  pro- 
cedure, and  while  the  Indian  Agent,  retaining  his  station 
substantially,  though  nominally  suspended,  was  able  to 
exercise  an  undue  influence  in  the  Nation." 

After  referring  to  some  intermediate  matters,  the  writer 
added  : 

"It  was  at  this  period  that  my  colleague  and  Major 
Meri wether,  after  examining  various  maps,  came  to  the 
conclusion  which  has  been  communicated  to  you  by  the 
former,  and  which  was  announced  as  our  opinion  to  the 
Secretary  of  War  ;  but  he  was,  at  the  same  time,  told  that 
the  proposed  cession,  afterwards  carried  into  effect  in  the 
supplemental  Article,  would  riot  remove  our  objections  to 
the  treaty,  nor  would  anything  short  of  a  surrender,  in 
terms,  of  all  the  lands  within  the  limits  of  Georgia.  The 
course  which  we  prescribed  to  ourselves,  was  this  :  First, 
to  maintain  the  old  treaty  inviolate— Second,  failing  in  this, 
to  obtain  a  cession,  in  terms,  of  all  the  lands  in  Georgia, 
under  the  new  treaty — Third,  if  this  could  not  be  done,  to 
obtain  as  much  land  as  we  could,  averring,  at  the  same  time, 
our  determination  to  oppose  the  treaty  as  an  infraction  ot 
the  rights  of  Georgia." 

Referring  to  various  unsuccessful  motions  to  amend,  &c., 

O 

the  letter  said : 

"  In  all  this  we  failed.     The  treaty  was  ratified,  and  we 
recorded  our  votes  against  it.     The  reason  assigned  for  i 
ratification,  and  which  appeared  to  influence  the  members 
generally,  was,  that  there  was  no  evidence  that  any  of  the 
Georgia' lands  were  excluded;  and  that,  if,  when  the  line 
between  Georgia  and  Alabama  was  run,  it  should  appear 
that  any  had  been  left  out,  immediate  measures  would 
taken  to  procure  it.     It  was  in  vain  that  I  replied  that  the 
wishes  and  immediate  rights  of  a  sovereign  State 
not  to  be  thus  put  to  hazard— that  the  uncertainty  under 
which  we  were  acting,  was  the  fault  of  the  United  States, 
as  she  had  prevented  or  delayed  the  running  of  the  line 
between    Alabama   and  Georgia— that,   unless   we    con 
have  all  our  lands,  we  were  entitled  to  ask  that  the 
treaty  should   be   maintained,  or   the   charges   against  r 

56 


442  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

proved,  and  that  the  Senate  ought  not  to  shrink  from  the 
investigation.  My  colleague  reiterated  these  ideas,  and 
made  other  suggestions ;  but  they  were  unavailing.  The 
Senate  gladly  avoided  the  unpleasant  investigation  which 
awaited  them,  if  they  rejected  the  new  treaty;  and  ratified 
it,  as  I  firmly  believe,  rather  in  the  hope  than  the  belief 
that  all  the  lands  within  the  limits  of  Georgia  would  be 
coded  by  it. 

"  Defeated  in  these  particulars,  I  still  thought  it  an  act  of 
duty  to  the  friends  of  Mclntosh,  and  interesting  to  Geor- 
gia, to  attempt  something  for  their  relief,  and  for  the 
encouragement  of  their  emigration.  In  this  1  have  suc- 
ceeded to  an  extent  which  you  have  no  doubt  seen,  as  the 
act  has  been  published.  Then  came  the  bill  appropriating 
money  to  carry  the  treaty  into  effect,  and  with  it  the 
discovery  of  the  fraud  which  is  developed  in  the  report  of 
the  Committee  of  Conference,  which  I  sent  you.  This  com- 
pletely turned  the  tables  on  our  accusers,  and  such  was  the 
indignation  of  the  Senate,  that,  if  the  new  treaty  had 
been  then  in  our  power,  it  would  have  been  promptly  re- 
jected," &c. 

The  letter  concluded  : 

"  Such,  Sir,  is  a  brief  narrative  of  this  affair.  "We  can- 
not say,  with  Francis,  that  we  have  lost  everything  but 
our  honor ;  but  we  can  say,  with  honest  pride,  that  it  is 
unimpaired." 

The  "  fraud,"  to  which  Judge  Berrien  referred,  as  de- 
veloped in  the  report  of  the  committee,  was  shown  up  in 
that  report  made  to  the  Senate  on  17th  May ;  from  which 
the  following  is  extracted  : 

"  The  paper,  marked  A,  is  a  copy  of  the  statement  fur- 
nished to  the  Secretary,  by  the  conferees  ;  and,  as  appears 
by  his  last  letter,  corresponds  with  that  spoken  of  by  Mr. 
McKenney*  in  his  report,  as  having  been  furnishc-. 
him  by  the  Cherokees,  Ridge  andVann,  and  by  him  shown 
to  the  Secretary.  From  the  facts  stated  <n  t!»'  <l:><-n merits 
submitted*  it  is  manifest  that  it  is  the  design  of  the  del < 'ju- 
t-ion by  whom  the  treaty  was  negotiated,  to  make  a  distribu- 
tion ^  of  the  greater  part  of  the  money  to  le  ]«?/'</  hy  the 
United  States,  under  the  treaty,  amon<i  themselvcf,  three 
Cherokee  Indians,  who  had  no  interest  in  the  lands,  and, 
consequently,  were  not  entitled  to  any  j><>rtion  of  the  money, 

•    Then  at  the  head  of  the  Burcan  of  Indian  Affairs.— ED. 


CHAP.  XII.]  FRAUD  IN  NEW  TREATY.  443 

and  a  few  selected  individuals,  in  gross  fraud  of  the  rights 
of  the  Nation.  The  particulars  of  the  contemplated  distri- 
bution are  stated  in  the  paper  marked  A,"  &c. 

We  have  italicized  a  portion  of  the  above,  that  the  reader 
may  note  some  of  the  influences  by  which  the  new  treaty 
was  negotiated  ;  and  now  submit  "  the  paper  marked  A." 
The  reader  will  bear  in  mind,  that  the  "  three  Cherokee  In- 
dians" were  John  Bldge,  Joseph  Yann  and  Major  Ridge, 
mentioned  below. 

A. 

Statement  referred  to  in  the  letter  of  James  Barbour, 
Esq.,  Secretary  of  War,  and  communicated  to  him  by  the 
committee  of  conference,  showing  the  terms  of  the  agree- 
ment for  the  proposed  distribution  of  the  money  to  be 
received  under  the  Creek  treaty. 

John  Kidge,  $15,000  ;  Joseph  Vann,  $15,000 ;  Opothle 
Yoholo,  $10,000  ;  John  Stidham,  $10,000  ;  Menawee, 
$10,000;  Charles  Cornnells.  $10,000;  Mad  Wolf,  $6,000; 
Paddy  Carr,  $500;  Tippee,'  a  young  man,  $200;  to  the 
remaining  members  of  the  Delegation,  each,  (seven  in 
number,)  $5,000,  $35,000  ;  Little  Prince,  $10,000  ;  Took- 
enehaw,  of  Tuckebatchie,  $10,000  ;  Tuskenuggee  Mallow, 
$10,000;  Major  Kidge,  of  the  Cherokees,  $10,000;  Tuck- 
ebatchie Tuskenuggee,  $1,000;  Tuskenehaw  Cusseta,  §2,- 
000;  Hubi  Hojo,  $1,000;  McGillivray,  $4,000. 

On  the  9th  of  May,  the  bill  to  appropriate  money  to 
carry  into  effect  the  new  treaty,  being  before  the  House, 
the  Representatives  from  Georgia  (through  Mr.  Forsyth,) 
presented  a  protest,  signed  by  all  of  them,  from  which  the 
following  extracts  are  here  made  : 

That,  by  a  contract,  made  at  the  Indian  Springs,  between 
certain  Chiefs  of  the  Creek  tribe,  and  the  Commissioners  of 
the  United  States,  on  the  12th  of  February,  1825,  the  claim 
of  the  Creek  Indians  to  the  land  occupied  by  that  tribe 
in  Georgia,  was  extinguished,  and  provision  made  for  their 
removal  by  the  1st  day  of  September,  1826  ;  that  this  con- 
tract was,  on  the  7th  of  March,  1825,  duly  and  solemnly 
ratified  and  proclaimed  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  acting  by  the  advice  and  with  the  consent  of  the 
Senate ;  and  that  Congress,  anticipating  such  contract,  had 
appropriated  the  sum  of  210,000  dollars  towards  the  exe- 


444  LIFE  OF  GEORGE    M.   TROUP.  [Cii.vp.  XII. 

cntion  of  it.  This  contract  partially  fulfilled,  on  the  part 
of  the  United  States,  their  obligation,  under  the  compact 
with  Georgia,  of  L802,  and  removed  every  difficulty  inter- 
posed by  the  occupation  of  the  Creek  Indians  to  the  full 
exercise  of  all  the  vested  rights  of  the  State  over  a  consid- 
erable portion  of  her  soil  and  territory.  That  the  under- 
signed are  under  the  solemn  conviction,  that  neither  the 
President  alone,  nor  the  President  and  Senate  conjointly, 
nor  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  have  any  con- 
stitutional power,  without  the  consent  of  Georgia,  to  inter- 
rupt or  invalidate,  on  any  pretense  whatsoever,  the  right 
secured  to  that  State,  by  this  contract,  made  in  obedience 
to  an  Act  of  Congress,  and  ratih'ed  with  all  due  solen-nity  : 
That  the  new  contract,  for  which  an  appropriation  is  now 
asked,  differs  from  that  of  the  Indian  Springs,  in  this  : 
that  it  does  not  provide  for  the  removal  of  the  Creek  In- 
dians, prior  to  1827,  and  does  not  expressly  provide  for 
their  removal  from  til!  the  Lands  occupied  by  them  in  Geor- 
gia. The  undersigned  are,  therefore,  compelled,  by  a  just 
sense  of  what  is  due  to  Georgia,  to  protest,  as  they  do  m<-st 
solemnly  pr<>  inst  it,  as  violating  the  rights  of  that 

member  of  the  Union  of  which  they  are  the  Uepresenta- 
tives,  leaving  it  to  the  Constitutional  organs  of  the  State 
sovereignty  to  vindicate  or  to  waive  those  rights,  as  their 
own  sense  of  propriety,  their  duty  to  the  people  of  the 
State,  and  their  reverence  for  the  Union  of  the  States,  un- 
der the  Federal  Constitution,  may  did 

A  long  and  excited  debate  arose,  in  the  House  of  liepre- 
sentatives,  upon  the  bill  to  appropriate  money  to  carry  into 
effect  the  treaty,  in  which  several  of  the  Georgia  "Repre- 
sentatives, particularly  Mr.  Forsyth,  Cols.  Tattnall  and 
Cuthbert,  and  General  Thompson,  took  part.  Mr.  Forsyth 
denounced  the  whole  affair  of  the  new  treaty  as  "  a  stu- 
pendous fraud,"  and,  in  several  exceedingly  able  r.nd  elo- 
quent speeches,  vindicated  the  State  of  Georgia  and  her 
authorities,  &c.  Col.  Tattnall,  denying  the  power  of  the 
Federal  Government  to  undo  the  old  treaty,  declared  his 
readiness,  if  force  should  be  resorted  to,  to  shoulder  his 
musket,  to  defend,  at  every  hazard,  the  rights  of  Georgia, 
and  to  enforce  that  treaty. 

Mr.  Forsyth's  speeches  were  the  most  elaborate  of  those 


CHAP.  XII.]  MESSRS.  FORSYTE  AND  BERRIEN.  445 

delivered  by  Representatives  from  Georgia,  and  \vere  ex- 
ceedingly pungent  and  able  ;  but  we  cannot  give  even  a 
synopsis.  On  the  8th  of  May,  referring  to  the  determina- 
tion of  Georgia  to  survey  the  lands,  he  said  : 

"This  determination  of  the  State  peaceably  to  survey  its 
own  lands,  was  the  pretext  for  one  of  the  most  high-handed 
measures  ever  witnessed  in  a  free  Government.  "The  right 
was  unquestionably  with  Georgia.  Admitting  it  to  have 
been  doubtful ;  allow  even  that  the  President  was  correct; 
that  his  obligation  was  to  interpose ;  see,  sir,  how  that  ob- 
ligation was  performed.  No  judge  was  called  on,  no 
magistrate  sought  to  command  the  services  of  the  Marshals, 
Sheriffs,  or  any  other  civil  officer  ;  but  a  direct  appeal  was 
made  to  force,  in  the  most  odious  of  its  forms — military 
force — a  portion  of  the  standing  army,  of  the  hired  sol- 
diery, were  the  instruments  ordered  to  be  used  against  a 
State  law — a  military  force  previously  carried  to  the  scene 
of  action,  with  the  design  of  preserving  peace  among  the 
Indians  !  I  ask,  by  what  authority  the  President  employed 
this  military  force,  in  a  time  of  profound  peace,  against 
one  of  the  confederacy  ? " 

On  the  19th  of  May,  the  question  being  before  the  Sen- 
ate, on  the  report  of  the  committee  of  conference,  consid- 
erable debate  followed,  in  which  Judge  Berrien  took  part ; 
and  from  his  speech  we  extract  the  following : 

"  The  murder  of  Mclntosh— the  defamation  of  the  Chief 
Magistrate  of  Georgia — the  menace  of  military  force  to 
coerce  her  to  submission — were  followed  by  the  traduction 
of  two  of  her  cherished  citizens,  employed  as  the  Agents 
of  the  General  Government  in  negotiating  the  treaty- 
gentlemen,  whose  integrity  will  not  shrink  from  a  compari- 
son with  that  of  the  proudest  and  loftiest  of  their  accusers. 
Then  the  sympathies  of  the  people  of  the  Union  were  ex- 
cited in  behalf  of '  the  children  of  the  forest,'  who  were  rep- 
resented as  indignantly  spurning  the  gold,  which  was  offered 
to  entice  them  from  the  graves  of  their  fathers,  and  reso- 
lutely determined  never  to  abandon  them.  The  incidents 
of  the  plot  being  thus  prepared,  the  affair  hastens  to  its 
consummation.  A  new  treaty  is  negotiated  here — a  pure 
and  spotless  treaty.  The  rights  of  Georgia  and  of  Alabama 
are  sacrificed  ;  the  United  States  obtain  a  part  of  the  lands, 
and  pay  double  the  amount  stipulated  by  the  old  treaty ; 


446  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROITP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

and  those  pure  and  noble  and  unsophisticated  sons  of  the 
forest,  having  succeeded  in  imposing  on  the  simplicity  of 
this  Government,  next  concert,  under  its  eye,  and  with  its 
knowledge,  the  means  of  defrauding  their  own  constituents, 
the  Chiefs  and  Warriors  of  the  Creek  Nation. 

For  their  agency  in  exciting  the  Creeks  to  resist  the  for- 
mer treaty,  and  in  deluding  this  Government  to  annul  it, 
three  Cherokees,  Ridge,  Vann,  and  the,  father  of  the  for- 
mer, are  to  receive  forty  tl  £02tor0  of  the  money 
stipulated  to  be  paid  by  the  United  States  to  the  Chiefs 
of  the  Creek  Nation  ;  and  the  Government,  when  informed 
of  the  projected  fraud,  deems  itself  powerless  to  avert  it. 
Nay,  when  apprised  by  your  amendment  that  yon  also  had 
detected  it,  that  Government  does  not  hesitate  to  interpose, 
by  one  of  its  high  functional'!  .our  proceeding  ; 
by  a  singular  fatuity,  thus  giving  its  countenance  and  sup- 

Eortto  the  commission  of  the  fraud.  Sir,  I  speak  of  what 
as  passed  before  your  eyes,  even  in  this  hall. 
One  fifth  of  the  whole  purchase  money  i>  to  lie  given  to 
three  Cherokee*.  TKX  Tn<>rs.\Ni>  POM.AKS  reward  one  of 
the  heroes  of  Fort  Minis — a  boon  which  it  so  well  becomes 
us  to  bestow.  A  tew  chosen  favorites  divide  among  them- 
selves upwards  of  OXK  Ilrxnurn  AND  I-II-TY  Tn  DOL- 
LARS, leaving  a  pittance  for  distribution  among  the  great 
body  of  the  Chiefs  and  Warriors  of  the  nation.  But  it  is 
the  price  of  blood — of  the  blood  of  Mclntosh.  Shall  it  not 
be  freely  distributed  among  those  who  shed  i 

Speaking  of  Gov.  Troup,  in  connection  with  the  ';  menace 
to  employ  the  military  force  of  the  Union"  to  prevent  the 
sui  vey  of  the  lands,  Judge  Berrien  said  : 

"To  this  lawless  mandate,  her  Chief  Magistrate  submit- 
ted. Unable  to  repress  the  feelings  which  had  been  excited 
by  the  contumely  of  the  Government  and  its  Agents,  he 
nevertheless  respected  the  peace  of  the  Union,  and  the 
tyranny  was  unresisted.  The  Senate  will  permit  me  t<- 
a  passing  word  of  this  calumniated  individual — the  friend 
and  companion  of  my  earlier  years — whose  name  has  been 
associated,  in  the  journals  devoted  to  the  Administration, 
with  the  epithets  of  madness  and  of  treason.  Sir,  there  is  no 
man,  however  vindictive  his  feelings,  however  led  aslray 
by  the  reveries  of  a  malevolent  fancy,  who,  in  the  moment 
of  retirement,  communing  with  God  and  his  own  conscience, 
had  the  hardihood  to  avow  to  himself  a  belief  of  the  cal- 
umnies which  were  uttered  against  the  Chief  Magistrate  of 


CHAP.  XII]  ACTION  OF  CONGRESS.  44.7 

Georgia.  Love  for  his  country — indignation  against  her 
oppressors — these  are  the  qualities  of  the  patriot — these  are 
the  qualities  which  he  has  exhibited  in  this  controversy." 

Congress  passed  the  bill ;  but  it  provided  that  the  amount 
payable  under  the  third  article  of  the  treaty,  "Repaid  to 
the  Chiefs  of  the  Creek  Nation,  to  "be  divided  amongst  the 
Chiefs  and  Warriors  of  said  Nation  •  and  that  the  same  le 
done  under  the  direction  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  IN  A  FULL 
COUNCIL  OF  THE  NATION,  convened  upon  notice  for  that  pur- 
pose" 

Congress  also  passed  another  "  Act  to  aid  certain  Indians 
of  the  Creek  Indians  in  their  removal  to  the  west  of  the 
Mississippi."  The  Act  provided  for  the  payment  and  dis- 
tribution of  certain  bounties,  &c.,  amongst  the  warriors 
emigrating  within  a  certain  time,  payment  for  improve- 
ments, &c. ;  and  is  the  Act  referred  to  by  Judge  Berrien, 
(in  his  letter  of  30th  May,  to  the  Governor,)  as  an  encour- 
agement to  the  friends  of  Mclntosh  in  their  emigration,  &c. 

The  following  private  letter  may  be  properly  inserted 

here : 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  12th  May,  1826. 

My  Dear  Sir:  It  is  true  that  something  useful  might 
have"  been  accomplished  for  State  rights,  if  my  measures 
could  have  had  their  full  effect.  As  it  is,  there  may  be 
some  merit  in  having  intended  well  and  attempted  so 
much.  With  the  United  States  Government  and  the  United 
States  people  against  ns,  and  a  lean  and  shrinking  majority 
at  home,  giving  a  feeble  and  reluctant  support,  it  was  not 
to  be  expected  that  measures  of  vigor,  and  adapted  to  the 
occasion,  could  succeed.  I  wished  nothing  more  for  their 
success,  than  a  firm,  unyielding  majority  ;  and,  with  such, 
I  would  have  given  no  premium  for  the  assurance  of  a  tri- 
umph. It  is  most  mortifying  to  me,  that,  whilst  late  events 
make  it  proper  to  have  recourse  to  similar  measures,  we 
are  likely  to  find  similar  results.  To  sustain  the  old  treaty 
in  its  integrity,  I  would  only  ask  the  support  of  a  firm,  un- 
yielding majority.  Yet,  what  is  to  be  done  for  principle  or 
for  State  rights,  if  those,  who  are  most  concerned,  retire  from 
the  defence,  and  leave  me  to  sustain  the  burden  of  it  ? 
cannot  conceive  a  condition  more  pitiable  than  this ;  and  I 
regard  it  with  the  more  loathing,  because  you  know  how 


OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

our  enemies  will  rejoice.  We  have  been  defrauded  of  at 
least  a  million  of  acres  of  our  very  best  land,  In-sides  being 
grossly  insulted  ;  and  yet,  you  will  hear  it  said 'tis  not 
worth  quarreling  about. 

Very  affectionately,  your  friend, 

G.  M.  TROUP. 
Dr.  W.  C.  Daniell, 

Savannah. 

The  next  subject  claiming  the  attention  of  the  Govern- 
ment of  Georgia,  was  the  running  of  the  boundary  line 
between  that  State  and  Alabama;  a  subject  to  which  refer- 
ence has  already  been  made,  and  which  derived  additional 
importance  from  its  connection  with  the  Creek  controversy. 
As  early  as  1822,  the  Legislature  had  recognized  the  fact 
that  the  line  had  never  been  run,  and  the  Governor  had 
been  requested  "to  take  as  speedy  measures  as  possible"  on 
the  subject.  The  same  thing  was  substantially  done  at  the 
session  of  1823,  and,  again  at  the  extra  session  of  1825; 
and  in  December,  1825,  nn  appropriation  was  made  to  run 
this  line  as  well  as  that-  between  Georgia  and  Florida. 

On  26th  January,  1826,  the  Governor  wrote  to  the  Sen- 
ators from  Georgia,  requesting  them  to  learn  from  the 
Secretary  of  War,  whether  it  was  "the  intention  of  the 
United  States  Government  to  prohibit  the  running  of  the 
dividing  line  between  Alabama  and  this  State.'"  lie  added  : 

"  General  Gaines  is  explicit  enough,  but  the  Secretary 
of  War  is  sometimes  obscure  on  this  subject.  The  object 
is  to  possess  myself  of  an  imequivocal  declaration,  which 
will  admit  of  but  one  construction,  and  without  delay." 

In  his  reply  to  the  application  of  the  Georgia  Senators, 
the  Secretary  of  War  wrote  them  on  20th  February,  stat- 
ingthathe  had  been  instructed  by  the  President  to  say, 
"  that  the  uncertain  posture  of  affairs  in  respect  to  the 
lands  proposed  to  be  surveyed,  and  through  which  the  di- 
viding line  referred  to,  is  to  be  run,  renders  it  unnecessary, 
if  not  improper,  that  any  definitive  answer  should  be  given 
to  the  questions  contained  in  your  letter,  at  this  time:"  but 
that  "  the  earliest  moment"  which  would  relieve  "the  sub- 


CHAP.   XII.]  LETTER  TO  THE  PRESIDENT.  449 

ject  of  these  difficulties,"  would  be  seized  to  furnish  the 
most  satisfactory  answer  possible,  &c. 

On  9th  March,  Gov.  Troup  wrote  to  the  President,  and 
said  : 

I  embrace,  with  great  pleasure,  the  first  instant,  after  hav- 
ing been  myself  corrected,  to  correct  an  error  into  which, 
from  the  indistinct  information  received  here,  of  the  pro- 
visions of  the  new  treaty,  I  was  inadvertently  led,  in  the 
communication  which  I  had  the  honor  to  address  to  you  on 
the  llth  day  of  February  last. 

Necessarily  precluded  from  acting  on  official  informa- 
tion, until  the  fate  of  the  new  treaty  liad  been  decided,  it 
became  my  duty,  for  the  purpose  of  averting  apprehended 
evil,  to  act  promptly  upon  the  best  which  the  nature  of 
the  case  afforded ;  that,  of  course,  is  still  the  best  I  can  re- 
sort to,  and  it  warrants  the  belief  that  the  300,000  acres 
supposed  to  be  given  to  the  Cherokees,  have  not  been  given 
to  them,  but  to  the  Creeks  ;  and,  consequently,  that  the 
dividing  line  between  the  two  tribes,  viz. :  Mclntosh's  line 
of  1S22,  will,  for  any  thing  contained  in  the  new  treaty, 
remain  unaltered.  It  is  confidently  hoped,  therefore,  that, 
with  regard  to  the  running  of  that  line,  we  may  experience 
no  difficulty  or  obstruction  from  the  Cherokees. 

It  is  the  alteration  of  the  other,  and  most  important  one, 
viz :  the  line  between  the  Big  Bend  and  Nickajack,  ^  as 
guarantied  by  the  Articles  of  Agreement  and  Cession,  which 
remains  a  subject  of  specific  and  distinct  remonstrance ; 
and  it  is  the  inevitable  permanency  of  that  alteration, 
which,  replete  with  evil  and  full  of  danger,  produces  here 
inquietude  and  alarm. 

The  new  treaty  having  its  foundation  in  the  last  resolu- 
tion of  the  hostile  Chiefs,  officially  declared,  that  they  will 
never  surrender  the  country,  but  with  their  lives;  the 
inference  is  irresistible  that  our  rights,  depending,  for  the 
future,  on  that  resolution,  the  new  boundary  is  to  be 
considered  a  permanent  one  ;  an  inference  the  more  war- 
rantable, because  the  old  treaty,  being  as  much  a  matter 
of  contract,  passing  vested  rights,  as  the  Articles  of  Agree- 
ment and  Cession,  if  the  new  treaty  can  rescind  the  old,  it 
can  rescind  the  Articles  of  Agreement  and  Cession ;  and 
it  is  the  boundary,  as  established  ^by  those  articles,  which 
now  constitutes  the  chief  value  of  them. 

The  articles  of  the  treaty,  either  as  negotiated  or  rati- 
fied, (if  ratified  at  all,)  not  being  before  me,  I  can  only 


450  LIFE  OF  GEORGE    M.  TROUl'.  [CHAP.  XII. 

write  of  what  I  understand  them  to  be;  with  respect  to 
other  matters  of  fact,  I  may  be  equally  deceived  or  mista- 
ken;  with  respect  to  the  inference  drawn  from  them,  I 
cannot  be.  To  avert  mischief  by  timely  remonstrance, 
and  not  to  misrepresent  the  views  or  proceedings  of  the 
Government  of  me  United  States,  was  the  only  objert  in 
addressing  the  letter  to  you  of  the  llth  ultimo;  ami  it',  in 
this  or  that,  there  be.  anything  else  of  error  or  miscon- 
ception, none  will  be  more  ready  to  make  acknowledge* 
ment  and  reparation,  than, 

Sir,  very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 

G.  M.  TKOH-. 

On  the  15th  of  February,  Gov.  Troup  had  written  to  the 
Georgia  Delegation  in  Congress, stating  that,  in  summoning 
the  Board  of  Public  Works  to  meet  on  the  3d  Monday  in 
March,  he  was  "obliged,  simultaneously,  to  make  p:vpara- 
tions  for  the  running  of  the  dividing  lines  between  this 
State  and  Alabama,  and  between  this  State  and  the 
Cherokees."  He  added:  "These  preparations  were  in  a 
state  of  forwardness,  when  I  was  unexpectedly  informed 
that  a  new  treaty  had  been  negotiated,  at  "Washington, 
with  the  hostile  Chiefs,  superseding  the  old  one,  and  estab- 
lishing new  boundaries,  not  only  with  Alabama,  but  with 
the  Cherokees."  After  expressing  uncertainly  as  to  the 
precise  details  of  the  projected  treaty,  &c.,  &c.,  he  added  : 
"You  will  see,  from  the  tenor  and  spirit  of  the  letter"  (of 
llth  Feb.  )"  to  the  President,  (a  copy  of  which,  with  ihe  an- 
nexed documents,  is  herewith  for\\arded  for  your  in.'  nna- 
tion,)that  no  time  was  lost,  on  my  part,  if  any  thing  could  be 
hoped  from  this  last  appeal  to  the  Executive  Government. 
You  will,  if  you  think  proper,  be  pleased  to  make  known 
to  it,  informally,  what  could  not  with  so  much  propriety  be 
submitted  in  that  letter,  as  justilicatory  of  the  immediate 
exercise  of  an  absolute  right,  that  it  will  not  be  pos.-ihle  to 
commence  the  work  of  Internal  Improvement,  as  author- 
ized by  the  last  Legislature,  and  apparently  with  the 
universal  sanction  of  the  people  now  warmly  embarked  in 
this  interesting  cause,  and  for  which  every  necessary 
preparation  can  be  made  by  the  opening  of  the  summer, 


CHAP.  XII.]  GEORGIA  AND  ALABAMA  LINE.  451 

unless  our  permanent  Western  and  temporary  Northern 
boundary  are  satisfactorily  ascertained  and  marked." 

On, the  3d  of  February,  Gov.  Troup  opened  a  corres- 
pondence with  Gov.  Murphy,  of  Alabama ;  and,  in  reply 
to  the  letter  of  the  former,  the  latter  wrote,  enclosing  to 
Gov.  Tronp  a  resolution  of  the  Legislature  of  Alabama, 
authorizing  the  Governor  of  that  State  to  appoint  two  fit 
persons,  as  Commissioners,  to  co-operate  with  the  Georgia 
Commissioners,  in  ascertaining  the  boundary  line  between 
the  two  States,  "  according  to  the  terms  ot  the  compact 
made  between  the  United  States  and  the  State  of  Georgia, 
in  the  year  1802,"  &c.  The  Governor  of  Alabama  having 
solicited  the  views  of  Gov.  Troup,  on  the  subject,  a  long, 
but  interesting  and  very  friendly,  correspondence  ensued, 
the  result  of  which  was  the  appointment  of  two  Commis- 
sioners on  the  part  of  Alabama,  (with  a  request,  on  her 
part,  to  the  Secretary  of  "War,  to  appoint  U.  S.  Commis- 
sioners and  an  Engineer,)  and  the  appointment  of  three 
Commissioners  on  the  part  of  Georgia. 

The  Secretary  of  War,  on  4th  June,  communicated  (to 
Gov.  Troup)  his  reply  to  the  Governor  of  Alabama,  in 
which  he  said  no  provision  had  been  made  by  Congress, 
"  for  the  appointment  of  a  Commissioner,"  and  no  money 
had  been  appropriated  "  to  meet  the  expenses  of  such  an 
appointment";  and  he  added  that  the  President  "would 
fain  hope  that  this  subject  may  be  equitably  and  satisfac- 
torily adjusted  by  the  two  States,  without  the  interposition 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,"  &c.,  &c.  On 
the  17th  June,  Gov.  Troup  wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War: 
"  It  is  not  apprehended  that  any  serious  difficulty  will 
occur  between  the  two  States ;  and  the  expression  of  this 
sentiment  by  the  President,  so  favorable  to  the  removal  of 
one  embarrassment,  will  prove,  it  is  hoped,  the  precursor 
of  the  removal  of  all,  in  the  unhappy  differences  which 
have  occurred  between  the  General  Government  and  this, 
on  other  subjects  connected  with  it." 

[1826.]  On  this  subject  of  the  boundary  line  between 
Georgia  and  Alabama,  it  must  suffice  here  to  say,  that  the 
Alabama  Commissioners,  Arthur  P.  Bagby  and  Charles 


452  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [€HAP.  XII. 

Lewis,  and  the  Georgia  Commissioners,  Richard  A.  Blount, 
Joel  Crawford  and  Everard  Hamilton,  met  at  Fort  Mit- 
chell, on  the  1st  of  July,  ran  an  experimental  or  random 
line,  and  having  failed  to  agree  on  the  true  line,  the  Geor- 
gia Commissioners  proceeded  alone  to  run  the  line,  finishing 
their  labors  on  the  19th  of  September ;  and  that  line, 
although  not  acquiesced  in  by  Alabama  during  the  admin- 
istration of  Gov.  Troup,  was  virtually  regarded  as  the  true 
line  then,  and  has  over  since  formed  the  dividing  line 
between  the  two  States  .  The  reader  will  find  this  subject 
referred  to  in  the  annual  message  of  1 

It  is  pr<i])cr  to  add,  in  this  connection,  that,  in  June  of 
this  year,  the  Governor  of  Alabama  renewed  the  corres- 
pondence, giving  his  •  ;'  the  construction  of  the 
articles  of  agreement  and  c  ;•  as  they  related 
to  boundary,  "  in  return"  as  lie  said,  for  the  views  which 
Governor  Troup  had  presented.  He  added:  "I  have 
great  pleasure  in  doing  so,  as  it  affords  another  instance  of 
the  undisguised  i'nvd<>m  of  all  our  communications/'  The 
concluding  part  that  letter,  is,  as 
follows : 

"  With  respect  to  the  new  treaty  and  the  rights  violated 
by  it,  I  am  hap]'  between  us  an  entire  accordance 

oi'  sentiment.     If  hi;  leaching  by    ex- 

ample, and  the  actions  of  men  are  to  be  referred  to  their 
true  and  appropriate  causes,  I  do  not  know  to  what  place 
in  our  story  arc  to  ho  assigned  the  strange  proceedings 
connected  with  it,  or  what  figure  they  will  cut  there.  This 
much  is  certain,  that,  with  regard  to  us,  the  old  treaty  is 
unimpaired;  for  it  cannot  be  unknown  even  to  those  who 
sought  its  abrogation,  that  the  rights  vested  by  it  «ire 
vested  forever,  and  that  the  proclamation  which  announced 
its  legal  supremacy,  remains  an  unchangeable  record,  to  all 
future  time,  for  the  government  of  courts  of  justice,  whose 
ministers  through  a!  \vhether  of  refinement  or  of 

barbarism,  must  recognize  it  as  passing  interests  to  Georgia 
and  Alabama,  which,  by  the  universal  rule  of  natural 
justice  and  equity,  no  human  power  can  divest.  When 
the  passions  of  the  day  shall  subside,  and  a  calm  review 
is  taken  of  the  past,  it  is  not  to  be  doubted  that  the  removal 
of  the  Indians  will  be  considered  as  an  indispensable  act 
of  justice  and  atonement  both  to  Georgia  and  Alabama, 


CHAP.  XII.]  LETTER  TO   DR.  DAUIELL.  453 

and  one  of  necessary  precaution  for  the  preservation  and 
happiness  of  the  Indians  themselves." 

The  following  private  letter  from  Gov.  Tronp,  to  his  friend 
Dr.  "W.  C.  Daniell,  will  be  read  with  interest : 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  Sth  June,  1826. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  I  have  just  returned  from  my  plantation, 
and  take  the  first  occasion  to  write  an  answer  to  your  last 
friendly  and  obliging  letter. 

The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  long  since  been 
officially  notified  by  the  Governor  of  this  State,  that  he 
would  proceed  to  survey  the  lands,  in  conformity  with  the 
Act  of  the  Legislature,  passed  in  pursuance  of  the  provis- 
ions of  the  old  treaty,  without  regard  to  any  thing  which 
might  be  done  on  the  part  of  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  to  impair  or  invalidate  those  provisions. 

If  any  thing  had  subsequently  transpired  to  satisfy  me 
of  the  incorrectness  or  impolicy  of  this  measure,  be  as- 
sured that,  so  far  from  its  being  persisted  in  tor  the  sake  of 
consistency,  it  would  be  most  cheerfully  and  unhesitatingly 
abandoned.  It  has  so  happened,  however,  that  every  event 
'which  has  followed  that  notification,  has  confirmed  my 
belief  in  the  propriety  of  it,  and  rendered  the  measure  more 
indispensable  than  ever.  It  is  impossible  for  me,  believing, 
as  I  do,  in  the  unconstitutionally  of  the  new,  and  in  the 
constitutionality  of  the  old,  treaty,  to  suspend  the  execu- 
tion of  a  law  express  and  mandatory  in  its  character, 
whilst  no  justification  could  be  rendered  for  such  suspen- 
sion, but  my  own  honest  conviction  of  the  irrevocability 
of  the  old  treaty  and  the  utter  worthlessness  of  the  new. 
And  this  would  be  the  very  best  reason  which  could  be  as- 
signed in  support  of  the  resolution  to  execute  the  law :  for 
I  would  never  permit  myself,  even  in  extremity,  to  say  that 
we  had  been  deterred  from  doing  what  we  had  a  right 
to  do,  what  we  had  an  interest  to  do,  and  what  by  the 
competent  Constitutional  power  we  were  commanded  to 
do,  only  because  we  wero  threatened  with  a  good  whip- 
ping if  we  attempted  to  do  it.  This,  the  people  whose 
interest  it  is,  have  a  right  to  say;  but,  should  they  say  it, 
I  assure  you,  my  friend,  I  will  not  be  with  the  people. 

I  think  you  Will  agree  with  me,  now,  that  if  my  resolu- 
tion to  survey  the  lands,  this  time  last  year,  had  been  backed 
by  a  strong  and  resolute  majority,  we  might  have  been 
spared  many  humiliations  and  sacrifices.  "We  had  then 
good  reason  for  changing  the  resolution — none  now  for 


454  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [('HAI\  XII. 

changing  this.  The  same  reason  which  would  postpone  the 
survey,  would  postpone  the  running  of  the  dividing  line  ; 
for. the  one  is  equally  forbidden  as  the  other. 

It  is  quite  superfluous  to  say  to  you,  that  1:0  man  in  my 
station  respects  public  opinion  more  than  myself,  i  believe 
it  may  sometimes  bo  wrong — when  it  is  so,  it  will  be  dis- 
regarded. If  I  am  deserted,  it  will  be  no  cause  of  complaint 
with  me,  because  both  th  and  the  in1<  /'•  -st  involved 

are  theirs :  my  share  is  so  small  that  it  is  not  worth  fretting 
about. 

Affectionatelv,  your  friend, 

G.  M.  TKODP. 
Dr.  Daniell. 


The  4th  of  July,  ISiM,  was  rendered  yd  more  memor- 
able, by  the  decease,  on  that  day.  of  Tn<»i  and 
JOHN  An' 

By  invitation  of  the  citizens  of  Milledgeville,  Governor 
Tronp  consented  to  pronounce  a  culogium, k>  commemorative 
of  the  virtues,  the  talents  and  the  public  services"  of  these 
patriots.  In  consenting  to  deliver  the  eulogy  op  Jefferson, 
(the  death  of  Mr.  Adams  not  being  then  kno\vn  at  Mil- 
ledgeville,) the  Governor,  in  reply  to  the  invitation  of  the 
committee,  said  : 

"Nothing,  but  an  early  attachment  to  Mr.  Jefferson, 
made  stronger  by  every  incident,  of  his  life  to  the  hour  of 
his  death,  could  induce  me  to  yield  a  willing  obedience  to 
your  invitation  of  this  morning.  On  any  other  occasion, 
the  duties  of  my  office,  my  utter  ineompetency  to  the  task 
;iied  me,  and  especially  the  obligation  to  be  present  at 
the  approaching  commencement  of  Franklin  College,  would 
have  forbidden  it." 

The  eulogy  was  delivered  in  the  Baptist  Church  at  Mil- 
ledgeville, on  20th  July,  and  did  justice  to  both  the  illustri- 
ous dead  ;  but  we  have  not  space  even  for  extracts,  and 
must  refer  to  his  equally  eloquent  notice  of  the  deceased,  in 
his  annual  message  of  that  year.  In  furnishing  a  copy  of 
the  address,  for  publication,  the  Governor  said  : 

"A  copy  of  the  address  is  reluctantly  yielded  to  your 
request.  Acceptable  as  it  may  have  been  to  the  enlight- 
ened auditory  for  whom  only  it  was  intended,  and  who 


CHAP.  XII.]  DINNER  AT  INDIAN  SPRINGS.  455 

only  could  make  indulgent  allowance  for  its  imperfections, 
it  is  deemed  unworthy  of  the  press,  and  much  more  so  of 
the  occasion*  which  produced  it." 

On  the  17th  of  July,  Governor  Troup,  being  on  a  visit  to 
the  Indian  Springs,  partook  of  a  public  dinner  tendered 
him  by  the  citizens  of  Forsyth  and  its  vicinity,  in  con- 
sideration of  the  "  eminent  services"  he  had  rendered  and 
was  still  rendering  the  State.  The  fourth  regular  toast  was : 

"  Our  distinguished  guest — Gratitude  for  his  public  ser- 
vices, honor  for  his  integrity,  and  admiration  for  his  talents." 

In  returning  his  thanks  for  the  compliment,  he  said  : 

"  It  is  not  the  less  nattering  because  it  is  felt  to  be  unde- 
served. 'Tis  true  I  have  endeavored  something  for  the 
public  interest — 'tis  not  the  less  true  that  I  have,  so  far, 
endeavored  to  little  or  no  purpose.  You  are  not  ignorant 
of  the  causes.  If,  however,  for  any  thing,  merit  be  clue  to 
any,  it  is  most  especially  due  to  you,  gentlemen,  and  to 
those  like  you,  who  have  at  all  times,  in  the  true  spirit  of 
patriotism,  and  in  seasons  of  difficulty  and  trouble,  been 
ready  to  lend  a  manly  and  liberal  support  in  sustaining  the 
rights  and  honor  of  the  country." 

He  gave,  in  return,  the  following  sentiment : 

"  The  prospect  before  us — It  is  brightened  by  the  union 
of  honest  men  for  the  defence  of  State  rights,  and  Georgia 
promises  to  be  herself  once  more." 

Some  time  in  June,  the  Governor  received  information, 
from  Mr.  Fulton,  Chief  Engineer,  and  Hon.  Wilson  Lump- 
kin,  a  member  of  the  Board  of  Public  Works,  then  in  the 
Cherokee  country,  of  what  seemed  a  determination  by  the 
Indians  not  to  permit  those  gentlemen  to  proceed  with  their 
official  examination,  &c.  In  communicating  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  War,  on  29th  June,  the  letter  of  Mr.  Fulton,  Gov. 
Troup  said  : 

The  enclosed  copy  of  a  letter,  this  morning  received, 
from  our  Chief  Engineer,  engaged  in  a  reconnoissance  un- 
der orders,  and  within  the  unsettled  limits  of  Georgia,  will 
inform  you  that  he  has  been  stopped  by  the  Cherokees,  and 
his  further  progress  threatened  to  be  arrested  by  force  ;  and, 

*  Amongst  the  other  distinguished  citizens  who  pronouaced  uulogies  on  Jofferson  aud 
Adams,  were  Mr.  Forsyth,  at  Augusta,  Hon.  T.  U.  P.  Charlton,  at  Savannah,  and  Hon.  Thomas 
Spalding,  at  Darien. — ED. 


456  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciup.  XII. 

further,  that  these  infatuated  and  misguided  people  threaten 
to  resist,  by  force,  the  execution  of  the  measure  concerted 
by  the  Governments  of  Georgia  and  Alabama,  for  ascertain- 
ing the  dividing  line  between  the  twoSta' 

On  the  Cth  of  Au;.'u>t,  the  Secretary  of  "War,  after  notic- 
ing the  receipt  of  the  Governor's  letter  and  enclosure,  and 
stating  that  they  had  been  laid  before  the  President,  said  : 

"  I  am  directed  to  -  >u,  his  opinion,  that  a  sunvy 

or  reoonnoiasance  of  the  lands  secured  by  treaties  to  the 
Cherokee  Indians,  to  which  treaties  the.  United  States  arc 
parties,  and  to  the  obs  which  their  faith  is 

pledged,  cannot  be  lawfully  made  without  the  consent 
of  the  Indians.  To  obtain  that  consent,  the  letter,  a  copy 
of  which  is  herewith  enclosed,  has  been  written  to  the 
Agent  of  the  Tinted  States  with  the  Cherokee  IncK 
The  President  i-  persuaded  that  this  consent  may  be  ob- 
tained by  amicable  and  paciiic  means.  If,  however,  it 
cannot,  he  deems  ;ts  altogether 

unwarrantable.  If,  in  the  jn.-ti.e-s  of  this  view,  the  consti- 
tuted authorities  of  '  .uld  coincide,  it  will  be 
gratifying  1o  the  I'jv-ideiit.  i!nt.  to  ^uard  a-'ain'-t  the 
consequences  of  different  views  on  that  part,  he  feels  him- 
self required  to  protest,  in  the  name  of  ihe  United  States, 
against  the  use  of  forcible  and  hostile  means  to  effect  the 
purposes  referred  to  in  your  letter." 

Gov.  Troup,  in  his  reply,  dated  2Gth  August,  said  : 

To  ray  letter  of  the  29th  June,  announcing  the  resolution 
of  the  Oherokeea  to  resist  the  officers  of  Georgia  in  the  exe- 
cution of  their  duties,  1  did  not  receive  your  answer  until 
yesterday.  Accept  my  thanks  for  your  politeness  in  trans- 
mitting, by  an  enclosure,  a  copy  of  your  communication  to 
the  United  States  Agent,  and  tender  them,  if  you  please, 
to  the  President,  for  the  counsel  he  has  thought  proper  to 
interpose  on  this  occasion. 

As,  in  my  letter  to  which  yours  is  an  answer,  no  intima- 
tion had  been  given  of  an  intention  to  resort  to  force  to 
execute  surveys  or  rcconnoissances.  in  the  Indian  country,  I 
could  not  perceive  on  what  author! !y  such  intention  had 
been  assumed,  as  the  basis  not  only  of  a  premonition  that 
the  employment  of  force  by  this  Government,  for  such 
purposes,  would  be  altogether  ; table,  but  of  a 

formal  protest,  in  behalf  of  the  I'nited  States,  against  it. 
Whilst  no  doubt  was  entertained  of  the  constitutional 
right  of  Georgia  to  protect  from  insult,  and  against  any 


CHAP.  XII.]  LETTER  TO  SECRETARY  OF  WAR.  45  f 

power,  her  officers  employed  within  her  territory,  in  execu- 
tion of  her  own  orders,  whether  that  territory  be  in  the 
occupation  of  Indians  or  not,  it  had  not  been  resolved, 
as  you  seem  to  have  imagined,  to  resort  to  force  to  exe- 
cute the  engineering  reconnoissances  or  surveys  in  the 
Indian  country;  it  was  resolved  to  give  effectual  protec- 
tion to  our  Commissioners  engaged  in  running  the  dividing 
line  between  Georgia  and  Alabama  ;  a  measure  which,  if 
it  had  been  provoked,  the  Executive  Government  of  the 
United  States  should  have  been  the  last  to  complain  of. 
It  was  not  considered  possible,  that,  after  having  given  its 
cheerful  acquiescence  to  the  running  of  the  line,  it  should 
have  denied  to  Georgia  and  Alabama  the  only  means  by 
which,  in  a  probable  contingency,  the  measure  could  be 
executed ;  and  that,  whilst  the  two  States,  under  the  en- 
couragement of  the  United  States,  were  actually  engnged 
in  its  execution,  they  should  be  enjoined  by  the  United 
States  to  forbear  the  only  means  by  which  their  officers 
could  be  protected  from  a  threatened  insult.  It  was 
resolved,  therefore,  to  have  recourse  to  force  for  the  pro- 
tection of  the  Commissioners.  All  the  measures  were 
taken  to  make  this  force  available;  and,  it  gives  me 
pleasure  to  state,  as  highly  honorable  to  the  Chief  of  it, 
that  for  this  purpose  Georgia  would  have  had  the  cheerful 
co-operation  of  the  Government  of  Alabama. 

If  the  President  has  considered  it  his  duty  to  interpose 
his  formal  protest  against  the  execution,  by  Georgia,  ot  re- 
connoissances or  surveys  of  any  kind,  in  her  own  territory 
occupied  by  the  Indians,  much  more  is  it  conceived  to  be 
the  duty  of  the  Governor  of  Georgia  to  protest,  most 
solemnly,  against  the  doctrines  on  which  that  protest  is 
founded. 

Sir,  it  would  be  unavailing  to  open  a  discussion  of  this 
subject ;  the  United  States  Government  has  long  since  con- 
cluded to  discuss  nothing  with  the  States ;  it  asserts  suprem- 
acy, and  in  the  spirit  of  supremacy  it  orders  and  executes. 
Within  her  chartered  limits,  Georgia  is  denied  power  to 
ask  the  Indians  to  sell  to  her,  her  own  lands.  She  is  denied 
the  right  of  way  or  intercourse,  by  her  own  soil,  with  her 
sister  States.  Within  her  own  territory  she  is  divested  of 
all  the  rights  of  sovereignty  and  jurisdiction,  which  apper- 
tain to  it,  as  if  she  were  the  greatest  stranger,  and  is  treated, 
in  relation  to  it,  as  if  she  had  neither  charter,  title,  claim, 
or  pretence  of  claim.  The  Indians  are  the  lords  paramount, 
and,  whilst  we  are  not  permitted  to  demand  right  at  all,  we 
58 


458  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROFP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

are  allowed  the  privilege  of  receiving  favors  from  them, 
through  you  only.  My  word  for  it,  Sir,  these  doctrines 
may  be  fashionable  for  the  day,  but  they  cannot  last.  Geor- 
gia must  be  sovereign  upon  her  own  soil,  within  her  char- 
tered limits  ;  she  has  made  no  surrender  of  her  territorial 
sovereignty  and  jurisdiction,  by  entering  into  the  Union. 
The  power  to  regulate  commerce  with  the  Indian  tribes,  is 
no  diminution,  much  less  renunciation,  of  either.  It  is  not 
necessary  to  the  regulation  of  commerce  with  the  Creeks 
and  Cherokee?,  that  the  Creeks  and  Cherokees  should  be 
kept  within  the  limits  of  Georgia;  it  is  sufficient  for  the 
exercise  of  your  rights  in  this  respect,  that  the  ilbin 

your  own  limits  ;  but,  as  in  either  -y  would  be  with- 

in the  limits  of  the  United  States,  you  will  readily  perceive 
how  vast  tho  difference  i-  i  controlling  things  in  a 

country  winch  you  justly  claim,  and  in  one  to  which  you 
have  no  rightful  cl-  a  country  where  the  f- 

eignty  ;;ml  jin  isdiction  would  be  acknowledgedly  yours, 
and  in  one  with  regard  to  the  sovereignty  and 

juri.-di-.-i  !<•]>.  yon  are  con-  and  will  be  treated,  as  a 

foreign  power.  The  United  States  Government,  no  more 
than  any  foreign  Go\  permitted  to  insult  officers 

of  Georgia.  v/i:im:  the  ten-it*  --rgia,  occupied  in  the 

disc;  i  ;  heir  lawful  duty.  is  the  right  which 

she  always  had,  in  common  with  the  colonies  and  colon- 
izing countries,  t««  pre.sr-ribe  limits,  within  her  charter,  to 
the  territories  of  the  aborigines.  It  is  no  derogation  from 
this  right,  that  Georgia  has  never  exercised  it  but  on  terms 
of  treaty  ;  if  she  has  forborne,  from  motives  of  humanity, 
she  may  deserve  praise,  but  ought  not  to  suffer  loss.  The 
exclusive  right,  claimed  by  the  United  States,  to  purclia>c- 
lands  from  the  Indians,  is  only  the  right  to  purchase  those 
of  which  she  claims  the  6  ud  jurisdiction.  She 

has  no  such  exclusive  right  in  relation  to  territory,  thesover- 
ty  ;md  jurisdiction  of  which  are  claimed  by  Georgia. 
If  Georgia  .retains  her  colonial  right  under  charter,  to 
remove  the  Indians  I  .   lands ;  a  fori'mr'i,  she  has  a 

right  to  enter  into  pi-aceable  purchase  of  the  same  lands. 
To  have  sun-end  <  bt  to  the  United  States,  would 

have  been  virtually  to  surrender  her  territory ;  yet,  the 
United  States  have  constantly  exercised  it,  with  our  toler- 
ance, over  the  territory  of  Georgia,  as  she  has  over  her  own. 
Georgia,  with  her  rights  of  territorial  sovereignty  and  ju- 
risdiction, unimpaired  by  the  Constitution,  has,  in  practice, 
asserted  none  of  these  rights;  she  has  forborne  them  for 
the  sake  of  peace. 


CHAP.  XII.]         SECRETARY  OP  WAR  TO  GOVERNOR.  459 

"When,  on  a  late  occasion,  she  proposed  an  innocent  act 
of  survey,  preparatory  to  the  occupation  of  her  territory, 
acquire  d  under  treaty — an  act  inconsistent  neither  with 
rights  o*  the  United  States,  nor  with  the  occupancy  of  the 
Indians — she  was  threatened  with  a  military  force,  as  if  she 
had  been  a  stranger  committing  wilful  trespass  on  the  ac- 
knowledged property  of  the  United  States. 

You  will  pardon  this  brief  exposition ;  it  is  rendered 
necessary  by  your  recurrence  to  principles  and  doctrines, 
the  implied  admission  of  which  might  involve  the  forfeiture 
or  impair  the  rights  of  sovereignty  and  jurisdiction,  which 
this  State  claims  over  her  vacant  territory,  and  of  which 
she  ought  never  to  be  divested,  but  with  her  voluntary  and 
express  consent. 

It  was  a  matter  of  sincere  gratification,  when,  in  a  for- 
mer correspondence,  I  perceived,  or  thought  .1  perceived, 
symptoms  of  a  kind  and  conciliatory  spirit,  which,  met  by 
one  equally  kind,  would  reconcile  tho  parties  in  controversy, 
giving  the  past  to  oblivion,  and  opening  a  new  way,  upon 
lasting  foundations,  to  concord  and  harmony  ;  and  now  it 
is  cause  of  the  most  painful  regret  to  observe  the  slightest 
indications  of  a  return  to  opposite  principles,  on  the  part  of 
those  with  whom  the  authorities  here  have  no  wish  or  desire 
so  strong  as  that  of  cultivating  the  most  amicable  and 
friendly  intercourse/" 

The  Secretary  of  War  wrote  to  Gov.  Troup,  on  16th  Sep- 
tember, and  said : 

By  the  treaty  with  the  Creeks,  negotiated  at  "Washing- 
ton, it  was  stipulated  that  they  should  retain  possession  of 
the  lands  ceded  by  that  treaty,  till  the  1st  January,  1827. 
Through  their  Agent,  John  Crowell,  they  have  transmitted 
to  this  Department,  a  document  of  the  following  tenor : 

[The  document  was  an  order  issued  Oth  March,  1826,  re- 
quiring the  Surveyor-General  to  give  notice  to  the  Sectional 
Surveyors  appointed  under  the  Act  of  9th  June.  1825,  to 
repair  to  Milledgeville,  and  qualify,  on  a  given  day,  for  the 
discharge  of  their  duties  required  by  that  Act,  &c.,  &c. 
The  order  contemplated  the  beginning  of  these  surveys  on 

*  On  the  16th  September,  the  Governor,  in  a  private  letter  to  Dr.  , 

"  The  only  step  as  yet  taken  by  the  President  against  the  survey,  >  the  entry  of  a  general 
and  formal  protest  against  a  resort  to  force  by  Georgia  to  run  lines  or  make  surveys  of  any 
kind,  in  territory  occupied  by  Indians,  without  intimating  whether  force  will  ba  resorted  to  by 
the  United  States  to  maintain  that  protest.  Onr  Surveyors  are,  so  far,  uninterrupted,  and  by 
this  time  have,  no  doubt,  carried  their  lines  to  the  Chattahoochee.'1— ED. 


4-60  L1FE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUT.  [Our.  XII. 

1st  Monday  of  September,  1826,  and  of  the  District  sur- 
vey •  >n  as  they  should  be  required.  It  is  not 
important  to  insert  the  order  entire.] 

And  direct  him  to  say,  in  their  behalf,  that  they  are  much 
disturbed  at  the  idea  of  the  Surveyors  entering  the  country 
before  they  can  secure  their  little  crops  and  remo\  .•  their 
crops,  and  to  express  to  the  Executive  their  disapprobation 
of  the  measure.  That  while  they  are  perfectly  reconciled 
to  the  terms  of  the  treaty,  and  will  cheerfully  comply  with 
its  provisions,  on  their  part,  they  hope  and  believe  that  the 
Government,  of  the  Unit'  will  protect  them  in  their 

rights,   against,  the  encroachments   of   Georgia;  and   they 
express  their  apprehensions  that  much  mischief  will  ensue 
to  them  from  the  proposed  premature  survey,  and  the  con- 
sequences of  which  it  will   be  the   cause.      If  the  Indians 
had  acquiesced  in  your  mca-uiv.  the  iVe-id'-nt.  so  far  from 
interfering,  would  have   been   pleaded  in  the  speedy  fulfil- 
ment of  the  wishes  of  Georgia,  in  relation  to  thep 
of  these  lands  ;  but,  when    they   are   dissatisfied,  and  have 
appealed  to  him  to  cause  to  be  observed  the  Article 
very  treaty  under  which  the  lands  were  ce  led,   bui  p> 
sion  retained  to  the  Is;  of  January,  lsi;7,  he,  feels  him-c!f 

trained,  by  the  plighted  faith  of  the  Nation,  to 
to    you,  that  he  PB   an    entry  on  the  ceded    lands, 

for  the  purpo-e  of  surveying  them,  as  a  violation  of  the 
treaty.  Ever  dispo>ed  to  promote  the  wishes  of  any  mem- 
ber of  the  confederacy,  to  the  uttermost  of  his  power,  the 
Pre-ident  has  directed  the  Airent  to  use  b  «-flbrts  to 

reconcile  the  Indians  to  the  m*  >u  propose,  in  which, 

if  he  succeed,  you  will  be  duly  notified;  but,  if  that  be 
impractical/!'  .pected  that  Georgia  will  desist,  from 

any  further  prosecution  of  the  survey,  till  it  is  antho; 
by  the  treaty  ;  and  when  reference  is  had  to  the  small  por- 
tion of  intervening  time,  the  .President  can  see  no  induce- 
ment, on  the  part  of  Georgia,  to  enter  the  territory  of  the 
Indians,  against  their  will,  and  in  violation  of  the  supreme 
law  of  the  land. 

The  following  is  the  reply  of  the  Governor  : 

EXKITTIVK  DKI-AHTMKNT,  (!,  '( 

Sir  :  I  did  not  receive  your  letter  of  the  15th  nit.,  before 
the  !>0th,  it  having  been  delayed,  as  appeared  by  the  post- 
mark, at  Charleston. 

15e  pleased  to  assure  the  President,  that  what  has   been 


CHAP.  XII.]  GOVERNOR  TO  SECRETARY  OF  WAR. 

communicated  to  him,  as  a  remonstrance  of  the  Indians 
against  the  survey,  is  no  remonstrance  of  theirs,  but  of 'some 
officious  intermeddlers  in  their  behalf,  who,  in  misrepresent- 
ing the  Indians,  have  only  given  a  faithful  representation 
of  their  own  sordid  interests  and  passions.  Our  surveyors, 
some  of  whom  have  already  finished  their  work,  and  all 
of  whom  will  have  completed  it  in  a  very  short  time,  have 
not  only  suffered  no  interruption,  but  have  met  with  the 
most  cordial  and  friendly  reception,  with  the  exception  of 
a  single  instance,  where  two  of  the  lower  Chiefs,  notoriously 
instigated  by  white  men,  had  interposed  threats,  founded, 
as  they  alleged,  on  the  authority  of  the  Indian  Agent:  in 
truth,  the  subject  of  survey  throughout,  has  been  theoreti- 
cally and  practically  treated  by  them  as  it  deserved.  The 
survey  has  not  merely  been  regarded  as  an  operation 
innocent  in  itself,  and  unproductive  of  harm,  either  to  the 
persons  or  property  of  the  Indians,  but  it  has  been  con- 
sidered as  a  source  of  accommodation  and  emolument, 
by  opening  a  market  for  their  surplus  commodities,  which 
are  either  perishable  or  not  easily  removable.  The  offi- 
cers engaged  in  it  having  been  appointed  by^  the  Legis- 
lature, are  presumed  to  carry  with  them  firmness  of 
character,  which  not  only  forbids  the  supposition  that 
they  will  commit  trespass  "on  the  Indians,  themselves,  but 
warrants  the  belief  that  they  will,  to  the  utmost  of  their 
power,  prevent  others  from  doing  so;  and  to  this  effect 
they  are  instructed.  The  surveyors  operate  as  a  check 
upon  that  description  of  persons,  hundreds  of  whom,  with- 
out authority  of  law,  but  according  to  custom,  intrude  upon 
the  Indian  "occupancy,  whom  neither  you  nor  I,  with  our 
utmost  means,  would  be  able  to  restrain,  and  whom  noth- 
ing will  restrain,  but  the  laws,  which,  in  a  short  time  now, 
will  be  extended  over  the  country. 

The  President  concedes  the  right  of  occupancy  and  set- 
tlement to  G-eorgia  on  the  1st  day  of  January.  If,  according 
to  the  established  rule,  the  concession  of  a  right  implies 
the  concession  of  all  the  means,  without  which  that  right 
cannot  be  enjoyed,  the  survey  on  the  1st  of  September  was 
an  act  of  indisputable  right,  without  which  Georgia  could 
not  occupy  the  country  on  the  1st  of  January. 
President  cannot  mean  that  the  survey  of  the  country  is 
the  occupation  of  the  country,  because  that  would  be  a 
perversion  of  language ;  and  if  he  only  means  that  the  In- 
dians are  not  to  suffer  the  least  disturbance  in  their  persons 
or  effects,  before  the  1st  of  January,  I  trust  the  President 
has  found  a  sufficient  guaranty  for  this,  in  the  universal 


462  I'H'E  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

and  joyous  acquiescence  of  the  Indians  tliernsolves ;  and 
here'  permit  me  to  say  to  the  President,  in  all  frankness, 
that  I  believe  himself,  and  youvoell1,  and  the  Senate,  have 
been  grossly  deceived  and  imp»,Ldon,  i^  framing,  at  least, 
one  of  the  stipulations  of  the  instrument  called  the  new 
treaty.  Why"  with  regard  to  the  time  for  the  occupation 
of  the  country,  was  not  the  provis'-in  <>f  the  new  treaty 
made  to  correspond  with  that  of  the  old '{  This  coinci- 
dence would  at  least  h:n  ^ne  difficulty;  but  it 
escaped  his  and  your  observation,  that  it,  rued  f  ti- 
the very  purpose,  in  gn:'  .  of  the  wors' 

..  to  embitter  the  controversy  between  the 
United  States  and  Georgia,  of  po>t|>»ni:tg  the  settlement 
of  the  country  one  \  :ponement,  which,  to  the 

President,  might  seem  to  be  \  i.  but  which, 

I  assure  you,  would  be  consid'-iv.  :rcat 

one,   not  by  our  -uly,  but.  by  the  Indians  and  the 

United  Stat' 

The  contrivers  of  this  trick   believed  that   you   would 
prevent  a  survey    before  the   1st  of  January,  and  they  well 
knew  if  you  did  that,  consistently  with  our  system,   the 
country  could  not  be  occcupied  before  the  folio ving  year; 
'he  reasons  for  this,  which  you  may  nor  :  .:>re- 

hend,  are  universally  understood  and  appreciated  here. 
With  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  the  Presi- 
dent, "  consulting  the  views  and  interests  of  the  people  of 
Georgia,"  would  never  have  suffered  this  despicable  strata- 
gem to  have  passed  unexposed  or  unpunished. 

The  survey  being  disposed  of,  it  only  remains  to  invite 
the  attention  of  the  President  to  that  part  of  the  subject 
from  which  further  embarrassment  and  misunderstanding 
may  possibly  arise  :  I  mean  the  western  boundary  of 
Georgia,  as  prescribed  contrary  to  her  Constitution  and  the 
Articles  of  Agreement,  by  the  instrument  called  the  new 
treaty.  My  views  on  this  subject  have  long  since  been 
submitted,  in  all  possible  candor,  to  the  President.  The 
President,  however,  consulting  the  views  and  interests  of 
Georgia,  as  well  as  the  interests  of  the  United  States,  will 
not  suffer,  if  he  can  avoid  it,  a  conscientious  difference  of 
opinion  to  be  a  source  of  mischief  and  calamity  to  either. 
I  may  be  mistaken  or  deceived,  but  the  impression  here 
has  been  uniform,  from  the  beginning,  that  the  Indians  who 
negotiated  that  instrument,  intended  to  cede  to  Georgia  all 
the  lands  claimed  by  Georgia,  and  that  the  President,  the 
Senate,  and  the  Georgia  Delegation,  so  understood  it; 
rumor  has  lately  said  that  the  Indians  still  so  understand 


CHAP.  XII.]  STATE  ELECTIONS. 

it.  Of,  all  this,  however,  you  possess  the  more  ample  means 
of  information ;  and  it  is  only  permitted  to  me  to  say,  that 
if  these  things  be  true,  it  depends  on  the  President  to 
remove,  by  a  single  word,  every  obstacle  to  the  adjustment 
of  all  the  differences  unhappily  connected  with  this  subject. 
With  great  consideration  and  respect, 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 

G.  H.  TROUF. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  surveys  of  the  lands  ceded  by  the 
old  treaty,  were  proceeding ;  and,  as  is  seen  by  the  forego- 
ing letter,  some  of  the  surveyors  had  already  completed 
their  work  when  that  letter  was  written.  There  were  many 
rumors  and  some  threats  of  interruption ;  but  these  amount- 
ed to  little,  and  the  Governor  took  the  proper  precautions 
and  measures  to  protect  the  surveyors.* 

On  the  second  day  of  October,  the  general  election  for 
Kepresentatives  in  Congress  and  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, took  piace.  It  resulted  in  the  choice  of  Edward  F. 
Tattnall,t  in  the  1st;  John  Foray th,  in  the  2d;  Wiley 
Thompson,  in  the  3d  ;  Wilson  Lumpkin,  in  the  4th  ;  Charles 
E.  Haynes,  in  the  5th ;  Tomlinson  Fort,  in  the  6th  ;  and 
John  Floyd,  in  the  7th,  Congressional  Districts ;  and  in  a 
decided  majority  of  Troup  men  in  each  branch  of  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly. 

The  Legislature  convened  on  the  6th  day  of  November. 
In  the  Senate,  Hon.  Thomas  Stocks,  of  Greene,  was  elected 
President ;  and,  in  the  House,  Irby  Hudson,  Esq.,  of  Put- 

*  Nor  was  ho  inattentive  to  the  interests  of  the  Indians.  Having  received  information 
that  "  certain  disorderly  and  evil-disposed  persons"  had,  "  on  divers  pretenses,  passed  beyond 
the  temporary  limits  of  this  State,  into  the  vacant  territory  of  the  same,  making  settlements 
therein,  or  otherwise  committing  trespasses  and  depredations  of  various  kinds,  on  tho  property 
of  Indians,  both  Creeks  and  Cherokees ;"  he,  on  the  26th  day  of  August,  1820,  issued  his  proc- 
lamation, "  warning  and  cautioning  all  such  persons  against  the  penalties  which"  awaited 
"  their  disobedience  and  violation  of  the  laws  of  the  United  States  and  of  this  State,  in  the 
premises,"  and  particularly  ordering  "all  property  unjustly  or  unlawfully  taken,  us  aforesaid, 
and  brought  within  the  jurisdiction  of  this  State,  upon  due  proof  thereof,  to  bs  restored,"  &c., 
ic.— ED. 

t  On  the  23d  Julv,  1827,  Col.  Tattnall  resigned  his  seat  in  Congress,  on  account  of  ill 
health,  and  was  succeeded  by  lion.  George  E.  Gilraer. 

Mr.  Forsyth  having  been  elected  Governor  on  the  1st  Monday  in  October,  1827,  resigned  his 
place  in  Congress  on  the  13th  of  the  same  month,  and  was  succeeded  by  Hon.  Richard  H. 
Wilde. 


LIFE  OF  GEOKGE  M.  TROUP.  [Czur.  XII. 

nam,  was  elected  Speaker  —  both  members  of  the  dominant 
party.  The  result  of  these  elections  indicated  a  majority, 
on  joint  ballot,  of  twenty-five  v<>' 

On  the  second  clay  of  the  session,  the  Governor  sent  in 
the  following  •  to  the  two  Houses,  which  we  are  re- 

luctantly compelled  to  abridge  : 

Exirrnvi:   1  )I:I'.\UT.M:  N  :.    (i:->i:<;rA,    ) 


<  nil"  i\ 

F<  :     Tin1  political  year  just  terminated  has 

been  distinguished  by  nothing  so  much  as  the  'lecease  of 
Thomas  Jefieraon  and  John  Adams,  v.  •  laving  the 

foundation  of  American  Independence,  and  filling  the 
highest  offices  of  State,  through  a  Long  of  time,  sur- 

vivei]  to  the  fiftieth  anniv>  f  the   Independence  they 

had  declared  ;  and  on  that,  day,  almost  at  the  same  h 
died,  full  of  years  and  full  of  honor,  deplored  by  the  whole 
nation,  whose  grief  u  ',..-d  hy  a  universal   mourning, 

accompanied  with  every  demonstration  of  Love,  re>  peel  and 
veneration.     Among  the  many  tokens  of  the  tender  me; 
of  Divine  Pr<-\  :,  .  ard  our  country,  none  have  been 

more  signal  than  those  which  accompanied  this  memorable 
dispensation  ;  so  much  so,  that  our  sorrows  have  found  solace 
and  comfort  in  the  admiration  and  gratitude  due  to  Al- 
mighty (rod,  fur  the  special  interposition,  which,  by  its 
circumstances,  made  their  deaths  not  less  glorious  than  their 
lives  had  boon  exemplary  and  illustrious. 

It  was  known  to  the  last  Legislature,  that,  for  certain  rea- 
sons expressed  by  the  President  of  the  United  States,  he 
would  call  the  attention  of  Congress,  at  their  first  meeting, 
to  the  validity  of  the  treaty  negotiated  at  the  Indian  Springs, 
i;i  ls±>;  and,  in  his  message  to  the  Congress,  a!  the  opening 
of  the  session,  after  announcing  that  "the  treaty  had  been 
ratified  under  the  unsuspecting  impression  that  it  had  been 
negotiated  in  good  faith,"  he  promised  to  lay  before  that 
body  the  subsequent  transactions  in  relation  to  it.  The 
President  tailed  to  do  so.  Toward  th<  •!'  the  session 

of  Congress,  he  did  submit  to  the  Senate  a  new  treaty,  in 
abrogation  of  the  old  one,  with  a  general  declaration  of  the 
falsehood  and  deception  practiced  by  the  Commissioners,  in 
their  official  communications  with  the  Government,  of  the 
numerical  inferiority  of  the  party  which  signed  it,  and  of 
their  consequent  inability  to  carry  it  into  effect,  but  unac- 
companied by  a  single  document  or  voucher  to  support  any 


CHAP.  XII.]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1826.  465 

fact  or  principle  contained  in  that  declaration.  The  Senate, 
as  you  know,  ratified  the  treaty  ;  and  the  one  of  the  Indian 
Springs,  of  prior  date,  of  prior  ratification,  and  passing 
vested  rights  to  Georgia,  was  declared  null  and  void.  The 
objections  to  this  proceeding,  considered  altogether  hovel 
and  unprecedented,  were  obvious.  Georgia,  for  whose 
benefit  alone  the  treaty  was  negotiated,  was  deprived, 
without  her  consent,  of  interests  already  vested.  The  party 
with  whom  the  old  treaty  had  been  negotiated,  was  not 
recognized  as  a  party  at  all  in  the  conclusion  of  the  new ; 
and,  in  the  execution  of  the  new  treaty,  without  their  con- 
sent, and  even  against  their  consent,  they  have  not  merely 
been  deprived  of  every  right  which  they  could  claim,  un- 
der the  old  or  new,  but  have  been,  to  all  intents  and 
purposes,  denationalized,  and  forced  either  to  submit  un- 
conditionally to  the  power  of  their  enemies,  or  to  abandon 
their  country.  It  was  with  a  knowledge  of  what  was  in 
prospect,  from  the  first  annunciation  of  the  President  to 
Congress,  that  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  at  the  close  of 
its  session,  again  reviewed  and  again  confirmed  the  validity 
of  the  treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs. 

This  confirmation  was  the  more  imposing,  because  the 
Legislature  which  first  acknowledged  the  authority  of  that 
treaty,  had  returned  to  the  people,  its  conduct  had  been 
passed  in  review,  and  of  course  a  favorable  verdict  pro- 
nounced upon  it.  The  act  of  the  Legislature,  founded  on 
the  provisions  of  the  old  treaty,  having  been,  as  it  were, 
re-enacted  by  a  succeeding  Legislature,  was  to  be  regard- 
ed as  mandatory  and  imperative,  to  be  carried  into  effect 
by  the  Executive  under  his  oath  of  office,  according  to  its 
requisitions,  unless  forbidden  by  paramount  considerations ; 
there  could  be  none  paramount,  but  what  would  be  found 
in  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  none  such 
were  found.  The  Constitution  itself,  in  denouncing  an  act 
impairing  the  obligation  of  contracts,  recognized  the  sacred- 
ness  of  the  treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs.  The  Executive 
of  Georgia,  therefore,  had  no  alternative  but  to  carry  that 
treaty  into  effect,  in'  conformity  with  the  repeatedly  ex- 
pressed will  of  the  Legislature.  His  intentions  were  early 
communicated,  in  the  most  frank  and  ingenuous  manner, 
to  the  Executive  Government  at  Washington,  and,  from 
that  time  to  the  present  moment,  he  has  never  ceased  to 
remonstrate  and  protest,  on  every  occasion  requiring  it, 
against  any  act  injuriously  affecting  interests  of  Georgia 
derived  under  it.  But  there  were  other  reasons  for  inam- 

59 


466  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTH*.  [CHAP.  XII. 

tainingthe  inviolability  of  the  treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs. 
By  that  treaty,  Georgia  had  acquired  all  her  territory  with- 
in the  Creek  limits  ;  by  the  new,  she  was  to  acquire  less; 
and  the  difference  between  them  was,  by  the  stipulations 
of  the  new,  guarantied  to  the  Indians  forever.  rlhe  Gov- 
ernor could  in  no  manner  recognize  the  power  of  the  Presi- 
dent and  Senate,  by  the  abrogation  of  the  old  treaty,  to 
violate  the  Constitution  of  Georgia.  The  Constitution  of 
Georgia,  as  well  a-  the  articles  of  agreement,  entered  into 
in  conformity  with  it,  had  settled  her  permanent  boundaries 
irrevocably.  The  new  treaty  proeribed  ne\v  boundaries 
for  Georgia,  and  by  its  perpetual  guaranty  made  them  per- 
manent. Lands,  the  rightful  property  of  Georgia,  were 
taken  from  her  and  ceded  to-  the  Indians  forever,  and  the 
jurisdiction  over  the  river  Chattahooehee,  which  had  been 
secured  exclusively  t»  her  by  the  original  Charter,  by  her 
Constitution,  and  by  thearti--  yreement,  and  cession, 

was  divided  by  the  new  treaty  between  Alabama  and  Geor- 
gia. As  no  power  is  given  by  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States  to  the  Government  of  the  United  State 
alter  or  revoke  the  Constitution  of  a  State,  it  would  have 
been  not  merely  an  unpardonable  indilference  to  her  lights 
and  honor  to  have  submitted  in  silence  to  these  palpable 
infractions  of  them,  but  the  Chief  Magistrate  would  have 
believed  himself  guilty  of  a  criminal  desertion  of  the  inter- 
ests of  the  State,  if  his  sanction  or  countenance  had  been 
given  to  such  an  instrument.  If  the  difference  between 
the  provisions  of  the  old  and  ne\v  treaties  had  been  a  nom- 
inal, not  a  real,  difference,  the  United  States  and  Georgia 
could  have  proceeded  in  good  faith,  and  without  collision 
of  interest,  to  execute  either,  as  the  one  or  the  other  was 
believed  to  be  the  Constitutional  law  ;  but  as  those  provis- 
ions were  variant  in  several  particulars  involving  essential 
rights,  and  as  one  of  them  especially,  whether  so  designed 
or  not,  would  have  effectually  postponed  the  settlement  of 
the  country  for  an  entire  year,  it  could  not  be  expected 
that  Georgia  would  surrender  rights,  interests,  and  principle 
too,  because  the  President  of  the  United  States  considered 
the  new  treaty  the  Constitutional  law. 

The  Government  of  either  State  is  to  be  considered  as 
an  independent  moral  agent,  having  a  conscience  of  its 
own,  the  arbiter  within  itself  of  right  and  wrong,  to  be 
influenced  or  controlled  only  by  Divine  authority;  and 
the  conscience  of  this  Government  has  already  passed 
definitively  on  the  validity  of  the  treaty  of  the  Indian 
Springs.  And  here  permit  me  to  remark,  that,  with  re- 


CHAP.  XII.]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OP  1826.  467 

gard  to  the  rights  of  sovereignty  and  jurisdiction  generally, 
which  Georgia  claims  under  her  charter,  to  the  territory 
within  her  limits  in  the  occupancy  of  the  Indians,  there  is 
such  a  radical  difference  of  opinion  between  the  authorities 
of  Georgia  and  those  of  the  United  States,  that  the  har- 
mony and  tranquillity  of  the  two  Governments,  so  much  to 
be  cherished  by  all  good  men,  can  never  be  maintained 
uninterruptedly  until  those  Indians  shall  have  been  removed. 
In  illustration  of  this,  it  is  sufficient  to  inform  you,  that, 
on  a  recent  occasion,  the  right  of  Georgia  to  make  even  a 
reconnoissance  within  that  territory,  with  a  view  to  event- 
ual internal  improvement,  was  denied,  and  that  denial 
accompanied  by  a  formal  protest  of  the  President  of  the 
United  States  against  it ;  and,  morever,  that  when,  about 
the  same  time,  there  were  indications  of  an  hostile  feeling 
on  the  part  of  the  Indians,  which  threatened  interruption  to 
our  Commissioners  engaged  in  running,  with  the  consent 
and  approbation  of  the  United  States,  the  dividing  line  be- 
tween Alabama  and  this  State,  and  precautionary  measures 
were  taken  for  their  safety,  Georgia  was  given  to  under- 
stand that  she  had  no  right  to  extend  her  protection  to  her 
own  officers,  engaged  on  her  own  soil,  in  carrying  into  effect 
an  act  of  her  own  Legislature,  against  such  hostility.  It 
is  vain  to  look  into  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
to  find  what  rights  of  sovereignty  and  jurisdiction,  acquired 
under  the  charter  over  the  territory  within  her  limits, 
Georgia  has  surrendered  to  the  Federal  Government.  No 
such  surrender  has  been  made ;  and  yet,  Georgia,  in  her 
late  intercourse  with  the  United  States,  has  been  treated  in 
this  respect  as  if  she  had  no  rights  of  sovereignty  or  juris- 
diction at  all ;  and  this,  too,  whilst  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  as  well  as  the  Articles  of  Agreement  and  Cession, 
distinctly  recognize  and  proclaim  them,  and  of  course  to 
the  very  same  extent  as  they  are  asserted  by  the  treaty 
of  Hopewell  and  others. 

The  forlorn  and  helpless  condition"^  which  the  Mcln- 
tosh  or  friendly  party  of  the  Creeks,  have  been  reduced 
by  the  continued  persecutions  to  which  they  have  been 
exposed,  is  submitted  to  you  as  claiming  your  humane  and 
benevolent  consideration.  This  portion  of  the  Creek  tribe, 
having  fought  the  battles  of  the  United  States,  and  van- 
quished the  hostile  part  of  it,  who^were  at  once  their 
enemies  and  the  enemies  of  the  United  States,  it  was 
hoped  that  they  would  have  been  regarded  with  some 
degree  of  favor  by  that  Government  and  people,  in  whose 
defence  they  had  expended  their  blood,  and  put  to  hazard 


468  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.   TROUP.  [Ciur.  XII. 

everything  dear  to  them.  For  a  time  this  hope  was  not  dis- 
appointed ;  General  Jackson,  by  his  treaty  of  1^14.  had 
recogni/ed  their  services  and  their  claims;  their  chieftain 
was  distinguished  by  the  favor  of  the  Government,  and  he 
and  his  followers  were  regarded  not  only  as  the  faithful  and 
devoted  friends  of  the  whites, but  as  the  conquerors  of  the 
Red  Sticks,  then  numbering  two-thirds  of  the  whole  na- 
tion, whose  rights  of  territory,  by  the  laws  of  war,  parsed 
to  the  victors.  It  was  the  conviction  of  the  jn-  heir 

cause,  and  of  the  rights  acquired  by  it.  which  dictated  the 
letter  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  of  the  17fh  day  of  March. 
1817,  recogni/.ing  in  full  the  power  of  Molntosh  and  his 
followers  to  sell  the  country.  When,  in  obedience  to  the 
expressed  wishes  of  the  I'nited  States.  Mclntosh.  with  of  i 
proceeded,  at  the  treaty  of  the  Indian  Spring  /cise 

this    acknowledged    power,    the    power     '  . :ed,    and 

the  murder  of  himself  and  chiefs,  which  followed,  !«>,,ked 
tipon  without  emotion,  whilst  the  murderer  !ied. 

caressed  and   honored  by   th  "merit   of  the  I'nited 

vStates;  his  follower-,  left  without    home,  without   pr 
tion,   without  bread,   and  iinally   denationalized    and    put 
under  the  ban  ;  so  that,  at  last,  they  were  con>iden-d  : 
part  of  the  nation,   having  no  claim  of  territory,   and,  of 
course,  no  rightful  participation    in  the  consideration    for 
which  the  territory  sold  ;  and,  what  is  worse  than  all. 
money   which  should  have  been  given  to  them  under  the, 
treaty,  not  only  given  to  their  enemies,  but  made  th' 
strument  of  seducing  from  their  allegiance  the  frien 
Mclntosh,  who  had  no  alternative  but  to  take  the  bribe  or 
share    the    calamities   of  the    party.      To   complete    their 
degradation  as  an  unworthy  and  ignoble  race,  the  1'-. 
dent,  in  his  official  message  to  the  Senate,  has  dei.uned  to 
stigmatize  them  as  "an  impotent  and  he'  :iv." 

"unable    to   execute    their    engagem  -as    fugi 

instigated  by  a  vindictive  fury,"  "  making  extravagant 
and  unwarrantable  demands,  whi]  ;•»;  eating 

bread  and  begging  the  protection  of  the  I'nited  Sta 
and  again,  as  "a  party  making  unwarrantable  preten-ions 
and  extravagant   demands,  and  having  no   claims  on   ih.- 
United  States,  other  than  of  impartial  and  rigorous  justi 
Is  it  to  be  wondered,  that,  under  such  treatment,  the  friendly 
party  should  be  reduced  to  a  mere  remnant.  <n>   '<  mj. 
told  hdjpleM  minority:  or  is  it  not  a  subject  of  wonder, 
that,  instead  of  the  luoO  which  remain,  there  should   be 
one  left  bearing  the  name  or  rallying  under  the  standard 
of  Mclntosh?     We  cannot  permit  ourselves  to  believe  that 


CHAP.  XII.]  ANNUAL,  MESSAGE  OF  1826.  4(59 

the  Congress  of  the  United  States  will  not  itself  regard  with 
tenderness  and  compassion  a  portion  of  the  human  family, 
reduced  by  reverses  to  piteous  distress,  deserted  by  the  in- 
constancy of  friendship,  and  abandoned  to  the  sports  of 
fortune. 

Whether,  in  reference  to  that  part  of  the  territory  of 
Georgia  yet  in  the  occupancy  of  the  Cherokees,  you  will 
think  proper,  in  conformity  with  the  recommendation  to 
that  effect,  contained  in  a  late  message,  to  extend  the  laws 
over  it  as  a  right  resulting  from  your  general  sovereignty 
and  jurisdiction,  or  whether  you  will  abide  the  result  of 
future  negotiations  by  the  United  States  to  extinguish 
their  claims,  in  virtue  of  the  compact  of  1802,  will  be 
for  you,  as  the  only  competent  authority,  to  decide.  A 
state  of  things  so  unnatural  and  so  fruitful  of  evil,  as  an 
independent  Government  of  a  semi-barbarous  people  co- 
existing within  the  same  limits,  cannot  long  continue  ;  and 
wise  counsels  must  direct,  that  relations,  which  cannot  be 
maintained  in  peace,  should  be  dissolved  before  any  occa- 
sion can  occur  to  break  that  peace.  How  ungenerously 
tantalizing  to  this  unhappy  tribe,  would  be  a  policy  invit- 
ing them  to  a  local  habitation  and  repose,  when  the  fates 
had  already  decreed  their  destiny  to  be  fixed  and  irreversi- 
ble upon  another  soil !  To  perpetuate  the  remnant  of  a 
noble  race,  we  ask  of  the  United  States  to  give  them  a 
resting  place  within  boundaries  of  their  own,  fruitful,  am- 
ple and  salubrious  ;  such  as  they  command,  and  such  as  in 
humanity  they  should  bestow ;  where  the  arts  of  civiliza- 
tion and  the  lights  of  Christianity  can  reach  them,  unmixed 
with  the  corrupting  and  contagious  vices  of  the  whites,  and 
where  their  perpetuity  and  independence  can  be  assured. 
If  the  United  States  hesitate  now,  a  few  years  will  bring 
them  to  just  reflections,  but  too  late  to  save  from  irredeem- 
able waste  and  decay  the  numerical  strength  and  moral 
energies  of  a  people,  so  far  preserved  by  the  encourage- 
ment and  patronage  of  the  United  States,  with  the  toler- 
ance of  Georgia. 

[The  portion  which  is  here  omitted,  of  this  paragraph, 
refers  to  the  running  of  the  line  between  Georgia  and 
Alabama,  by  the  Georgia  Commissioners,  with  the  assist- 
ance of  J  ames  Camak,  as  Mathematician,  and  E.  L.  Thomas, 
as  Surveyor,  also,  the  Chief  Civil  Engineer,  &c.,  and  to 
the  Governor's  "  entire  satisfaction  ;"  and  his  regrets  at  the 
non-concurrence  of  the  Alabama  Commissioners,  &c.,  &c. 


470  I'IFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROTJP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

If  tlie  first  bend  above  Ucliee  and  Coweta  and  Cnssctah 
towns,  from  which  a  line  to  "JX'irkajack  did  not  strike  the 
river,  would  not  satisfy  the  requisitions  of  the  articles  of 
agreement  and  cession,  it  was  not  to  be  expected  that,  any 
other  bend  above  it,  and  farther  removed  from  Tehee  and 
the  towns,  would.  It  was  the  less  to  be  expected  that  the 
Commissioners  of  Georgia  would  consent  to  paw  thai  bend, 
for  no  other  reason  than  that  Alabama  would  take  more. 
and  Georgia  less,  of  territory  by  it.  And  when  the  Com- 
missioners, without  the  concurrence  of  those  of  Alabama, 
finally  adopted  the  point  <>f  Miller's  IJend,  it  was  the  point 
which  was  about  midway  between  that  assumed  as  the  true 
one  by  the  Governor  of  Alabama,  and  the  one  ultimately 
proposed  by  her  Commissioners  to  ours.  As  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Alabama  would  not  agree  to  run  from  the  iirst 
bend,  immediately  above  Uchce,  and.  as  a  line  running 
from  that  bend  intersecting  the  river,  would  have  made  the 
boundary  not  a  straight  one  as  contemplated  by  the  articles, 
but  a  devious  one,  straight  upon  the  land  and  meandering 
on  the  water,  it  isdillicult:  to  perceive  how  the  Government 
of  Alabama  can  withhold  its  assent  from  a  boundary,  which, 
contemplated  in  all  its  aspects,  would  seem,  at  least  to  us, 
to  reconcile  more  differences,  and  present  fewer  objections, 
than  any. 

[The  residue  of  this  paragraph  refers  to  the  expense  of 
running  the  line,  <fec.,  and1  is  omitted.] 

[This  part  of  the  message,  referring  to  Internal  Improve- 
ment, will  be  found  copied  into  the  eighth  chapter  of  this 
work.] 

It  is  proposed,  in  concert  with  the  General  Government, 
to  commence  running  the  dividing  line  between  this  State 
and  Florida,  on  the  iirst  day  of  December  next.  The  cor- 
respondence in  relation  to  i't,  is  submitted  ;  and  it  will  be 
seen  that  no  difficulties  can  be  expected  to  arise  to  embar- 
rass the  operation,  or  to  prevent  the  most  desirable  conclu- 
sion of  it. 

You  will  receive,  with  other  documents  on  this  subject, 
a  communication  from  the  Governor  of  South  Carolina, 
which  looks  to  the  improvement  of  the  navigation  of  the 
Savannah  river,  by  a  concert  of  measures  and  combination 
of  resources  of  that  State  and  this,  depending  on  the  authori- 
ty of  their  respective  Legislatures,  witli  my  answer,  which 
will  disclose  to  you  my  own  views  and  opinions  in  relation 


CHAP.  XII.]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1826. 

to  the  subject,  and  to  which  it  may  be  only  necessary  to 
add  that  those  views  and  opinions  remain  unchanged. 

[This  portion  of  the  message,  referring  to  the  completion 
of  Schley's  Digest,  its  approval  by  the  Executive,  &c.,  and 
recommending  a  digest  of  Common  and  Statute  law,  simi- 
lar to  recommendation  in  message  of  1824,  and  again  ad- 
vising improvement  of  the  "  defective  organization  of  our 
own"  Judiciary  system,  omitted.] 

Our  Academic  Institutions  continue  to  flourish,  and 
Franklin  College,  at  the  head  of  them,  sustains  its  merited 
reputation.  To  its  other  Professorships,  a  Chair  of  Moral 
Philosophy,  Rhetoric  and  Belles  Lettres,  has  been  added ; 
and  the  discipline  and  subordination  maintained  by  the 
proper  authorities,  are  not  known  to  be  surpassed  by  those 
which  prevail  in  the  best  regulated  Colleges  of  the  coun 
try. 

[These  portions  of  the  message,  referring  to  the  Poor 
School  Fund,  the  Militia,  the  Banks,  and  especially  the 
Bank  of  Darien,  omitted.] 

The  organization  of  the  territory  lately  acquired  by  the 
treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs,  will  be  a  subject  of  early  at- 
tention. The  public  reservations  will  particularly  require 
a  provision,  which  will  not  merely  place  them  beyond  the 
probability  of  trespass  or  intrusion,  but  will  make  them 
available,  with  the  least  possible  delay,  for  all  the  benefits 
and  advantages  expected  to  be  derived  from  them. 
[This  portion,  relating  to  militia  claims,  omitted.] 
The  militia  claims,  and  the  territorial  claims  of  Georgia, 
remaining  unsatisfied  for  twenty  or  thirty  years,  have 
given  rise  to  the  unhappy  differences  subsisting  between  the 
Federal  Government  and  this.  It  is  sincerely  hoped  that 
these  differences  approach  to  an  amicable  termination,  and 
that  enlightened  counsels,  united  to  better  feelings,  will 
restore  the  harmony  which  it  is  so  much  the  interest  of 
both  parties  to  cultivate  and  cherish.  Wrong  has  been 
done  to  Georgia  ;  her  views  misrepresented,  and  her  char- 
acter traduced  ;  but  wrong  will  come  to  right,  and  what 
prejudice  has  misrepresented,  history  will  correct 
history,  from  infancy  to  the  present  moment,  fale 
charges  by  which  malignancy  has  sought  to  make  her  odious. 
In  allherdepartments^lier  Representatives  and  Magistracy, 
in  peace  and  in  war,  have  failed  in  nothing  ot  their  duty  to 


472  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROIT.  |  CHAP.  XII. 

the  United  States.  To  the  Constitutional  law,  a  ready  and 
cheerful  obedience  has  been  rendered  at  all  times.  In 
seasons  of  danger,  her  contributions  have  been  given  with- 
out stint,  and  her  sword  drawn  upon  the  lirst  tippeal.  If 
for  these  she  claims  no  merit,  she  deserves  no  reproach. 
They  are  the  righteous  only  whom  we  acknowledge  us  our 
peers;  and  to  their  judgment  we  submit  our  actions,  without 
bespeaking  for  them  anything  but  the  award  due  to  their 
intrinsic  mer 

I  cannot  conclude  this  message,  without  congratulating 
you  on  the  blessings  commuir  »  society  hy  that  nni- 

.il  toleration  of  religion,  (the  <;uaraniv  of  our  political 
constitutions,)  by  which  the   intolerant  hi:  a   well  as 

the  believing  and  unbelieving,  are  exempt  from  all  respon- 
sibility, but  t<>  their  Maker;  whilst  the  numerous  sect;: 
of  the  Christian  Church,  dilfering  in  creeds,  but  united  in 
the  faith  given  to  the  sermon   on   the   mount,   preach   and 
worship  securely,  almost  in  the  same  tempi--,  spreading  the 
benign  doctrines  of  that  sermon  far  and   wide.,  imprer-- 
their  sacredness  by  precept  and  example,  and  laying  the 
prosperity   of  society  in  the  deep  foundations  of  a  pure- 
morality. 

It  becomes  nations  and  communities,  like  individuals 
from  time  to  time,  to  render  homage  and  adoration  to  the 
Supreme  C4overnor  of  the  universe,  the  Author  of  (.-very 
good;  to  acknowledge  His  p.iwer;  to  make  confession  of 
sins  ;  to  ask  their  forgiveness  ;  to  supplicate  II  is  mercy,  and 
to  deprecate  His  wrath.  It  especially  becomes  us,  the  : 
favored  of  the  children  of  men,  to  display  our  gratitude 
and  thankfulness  for  the  continued  dispensation-  of  J I  is 
paternal  goodness,  by  which  our  Independence  and  liber- 
ties arc  preserved,  our  industry  made  fruitful,  ai.d  its  fruits 
protected — physical  evils  averted,  and  moral  !>'•  mi- 

tiplicd;  so  that  the  prosperity  and  happiness  we  enjoy,  not 
only  transcend  our  deserts,  but  promise  a  destiny  i 
elevated  than  any  portion  of  the  human  family  has  attain- 
ed. To  set  apart  a  day  of  thanksgiving  and  prayer,  for 
tlie-e  past  manifestations  of  a  superintending  Providence, 
may  be  thought  an  act  of  moral  and  religious  duty  not  in- 
coiisistent  with  the  high  political  ones  which  you  are  re- 
quired to  perform,  and  may  propitiate  t'>r  us,  in  the  time  to 
come,  a  continuance  of  the  same  benignant  smiles  which 
our  unworthiness  may  forfeit,  but  which  His  loving-kind- 
ness is  ever  ready  to  dispense  to  the  humble  supplications 
of  the  good  and  virtuous  of  all  nations. 

Your  fellow-citizen,  G.  M.  TROUT. 


CHAP.  XII.]  FURTHER  MISUNDERSTANDINGS.  473 

Although  strongly  supported  at  home,  in  all  the  promi- 
nent measures  of  his  administration,  the  Governor  was  yet 
to  encounter  a  strength  of  opposition  to  the  chief  of  them 
all— his  policy  in  regard  to  the  Creek  Territory— from  the 
Government  at  Washington ;  an  opposition,  the  extent  of 
which  was  hardly  foreshadowed  by  events  then  trans- 
piring, and  which  threatened,  for  a  time,  to  end  in  civil 
strife.  Indeed,  at  the  commencement  of  the  session,  and 
for  some  time  afterwards,  every  thing  seemed  to  betoken  an 
early  and  amicable  adjustment  of  the  difference  between 
Georgia  and  the  General  Government.  In  proof  of  this, 
we  need  only  refer  to  what  follows. 

On  the  27th  of  November,  the  Secretary  of  War  wrote  to 
Governor  Troup,  that  "a  long  and  distressing  illness"  had 
prevented  his  replying  to  the  Governor's  letter  of  Oth  Octo- 
ber; but,  since  his  partial  recovery,  he  had  submitted  it  to 
the  President,  who  instructed  him  to  say  tha'  the  Governor 
appeared  "  to  labor  under  a  most  serious  mistake,  in  sup- 
posing that  the  last  treaty  with  the  Creeks"  had  "  affected, 
iu  any  manner,  the  boundary  of  Georgia  ;"  that  there  was 
not  "a  tittle  in  the  treaty  that"  had  "the  most  distant  allu- 
sion to  that  object ;"  that,  not  "  for  one  moment  would  a 
discussion  have  been  admitted  thereon,  as  it"  lay  "entirely 
out  of  the  competency  of  the  General  Government."  He 
added,  further,  that,  in  wishing,  anxiously,  to  get  a  cession 
of  all  the  Creek  lands,  every  effort  was  made,  but  the  In- 
dians refused ;  that  he  thought  the  failure  to  run  the  line 
between  Georgia  and  Alabama,  was  an  impediment  in  the 
way,  &c.,  &c.;  and  that,  but  for  this,  the  President  would 
have  opened  fresh  negotiations,  &c.;  and  that  the  President 
would  embrace  the  first  occasion,  "  to  carry  into  effect,  by 
fresh  negotiation,  if  practicable,  the  entire  cession,"  etc., 
&c. 

On  the  9th  of  December,  the  Governor  communicated  to 
the  Legislature,  the  letter  of  Mr.  Barbour,  by  which  he 
said  it  appeared  "  to  have  been  the  intention  of  the  parties- 
to  the  instrument  called  the  new  treaty,  that  Georgia  should 
acquire  all  the  Creek  lauds  within  her  limits,"  &c.  He 
60 


474  LIFE  °F  GEORGE  M.    TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

denied  having  committe  1  "  tlie  most  serious  mistake''  im- 
pated  to  him.  Arc.,  appealed,  for  his  justification,  to  "the 
language  of  the  new  treaty ;"  said  it  was  "  not  necessary  for 
the  President  to  anticipate  difficulties  between  Georgia  and 
Alabama,"  &c.:  and  that,  until  the  boundary  between  the 
two  States,  as  established  by  Georgia,  should  be  changed  by 
them,  it  must  bo  considered  the  true  one  ''  by  all  the  parties 
concerned." 

To  the  Secretary's  letter,  received  on  9th  December,  the 
Governor  replied  on  the  llth  ;  and,  after  acknowledging  its 
receipt,  and  stating  the  pleasure  it  afforded  him  •>{'  hearing 
of  .Mr.  i'>;iH><>ur's  rec<>\r:-y  1'mm  his  "late  illness,''  added: 

Whilst  I  cannot  admit  the  justice  of  the  reproof,  that  I 
had  committed   a  most  serious  mistake  in  believing  the 
rern  line  of  the  m-\v  to  have  been  considered  as 

the  permanent  boundary  of  Georgia,  I  have  no  hesitation 
in  expressing  my  satisfaction  that  the  President  of  the 
United  States  lias  thought  proper  to  declare  that  it  was  the 
intention  of  the  parties  to  that  instrument  to  cede  to  Geor- 
gia all  the  lands  claimed  by  her  within  the  Creek  limits. 
My  practice  has  been,  when  1  committed  involuntary  error, 
to  make  confession  and  ask  pardon.  You  reprove  mi- 
a  mistake  which  is  not  mine,  but  yours;  and,  instead 
of  the  double  atonement  which  a  fair  course  of  moral  reci- 
procity would  exact,  1  ask  nothing  but  a  magnanimous 
acknowledgment  of  the  wrong  done  me,  and  will  be  con- 
tent with  a  denial  of  even  that,  if  there  shall  be  no  occasion 
in  future  to  ask  it,  either  for  myself,  or  for  the  State  I  re- 
present. If  the  construction  was  a  mistaken  or  erroneous 
one,  it  is  made  so  only  by  your  recent  declaration  of  what 
your  intentions  actually  were.  The  language  of  the  new 
treaty  fully  justified  my  construction,  and  I  was  not  per- 
mitted to  seek  your  intentions  through  any  other  medium 
than  the  language  ;  that  language  describes  the  Western 
line  as  a  permanent  one,  because  it  expressly  guaranties  all 
the  lands,  lying  West  of  it,  to  the  Indians  forever. 

The  permanent  boundary  line  of  Georgia,  as  established 
by  her  Constitution,  having  been  run  and  marked  by  her 
Commissioners,  and  the  Legislature  having,  within  a  few 
days,  sanctioned  and  confirmed  it,  by  an  almost  unanimous 
voice,  it  is  now  considered,  and  must  be  considered,  by  all 
parties,  as  the  true  and  settled  boundary,  unalterable,  but 
by  the  joint  consent  of  Georgia  and  Alabama.  This  act  of 


CHAP.  XII.]  GEORGIA  AND  ALABAMA  LINE.  4.75 

the  Legislature  of  Georgia  has  been  announced  to  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Alabama,  and  her  concurrence  with  it  is  not  to 
be  doubted,  because  it  is  in  strict  consonance  with  the  most 
rational  and  disinterested  construction  which  Georgia  can 
give  to  the  articles  of  agreement  and  cession,  and  is  as 
favorable  to  Alabama  as  any  other  construction  she  could 
claim  ;  unless,  indeed,  she  would  assume,  what  we  are  per- 
suaded she  would  not,  the  exclusive  right  to  dictate  a 
boundary,  regardless  of  the  letter  and  spirit  of  the  articles. 

The  joint  committee  on  the  state  of  the  Republic,  to 
whom  was  referred  so  much  of  the  Governor's  Message  as 
related  to  the  question  of  boundary  between  Georgia  and 
Alabama,  made  a  report,  which  passed  both  Houses,  and 
was  approved  by  the  Governor  on  8th  December,  express- 
ing the  hope  that  the  citizens  of  Alabama  would  acquiesce 
"  after  the  whole  grounds  of  dispute"  should  be  "maturely 
and  deliberately  considered-;"  and  concluding  with  the  fol- 
lowing Resolution : 

"That  the  line  run  and  marked  from  Nickajack  to 
Miller's  Bend  on  the  Chattahoochee,  is  the  true  line  con- 
templated by  the  articles  of  cession,  of  1802,  between  the 
United  States  and  Georgia ;  and  that  it  be  recognized  as 
such  by  the  State  of  Georgia.*' 

On  the  8th  December,  the  Governor  communicated  the 
result  to  Gov.  Murphy,  of  Alabama,  in  a  very  friendly  let- 
ter, from  which  the  following  extracts  are  made : 

"  I  cannot  but  natter  myself,  both  from  the  liberal  views 
uniformly  disclosed  by  your  Excellency,  and  those  not  less 
liberal  which  must  animate  the  Legislature  of  Alabama, 
that  your  concurrence  may  be  asked  with  at  least  a  reason- 
able prospect  of  success ;  arid  that  two  States  so  nearly  allied 
by  the  ties  of  interest  and  of  blood,  may  not  be  separated, 
even  for  a  moment,  on  a  question  in  which  neither  interest 
nor  principle,  of  any  great  concernment,  is  involved. 
*  *  *  *  Suffer  me  to  entreat  your  Excellency  not  to 
permit,  so  far  as  depends  on  you,  a  controversy  to  be  opened, 
which  is  the  more  likely  to  prove  interminable,  not  merely 
because  it  is  a  controversy  of  boundary,  but  because,  acc< 

*  In  the  Senate,  there  was  no  divtei^  called  for ;  in  the  House,  there  were  only  ten  votes 

In  the  negative. — ED. 


476  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

ing  to  ray  best  judgment,  Georgia  will  never  be  >atisfied 
with  any  construction  of  the  articles  different  from  that  ; 
adopted;  and  ought  not  to  he,  because  you  cnn  present  to 
her  none  more  rational  or  more  disinterested." 

On  the  2?d  day  of  December,  the  Governor  approved  a 
report  and  resolution,  (understood  to  have  been  clra\vn  by 
the  late  Judge  Clayton,)  on  tl.o  subject  of  the  treaties  ^i'h 
the  Creek  Indian-,  and  the  differences  with  the  General 
Government  The  whole  document  is  one  of  ;  :iuty 

and  ability  ;  but,  for  its  details,  we  must  refer  to  the  State 
papers  of  that  dale.  If  ;;s>erted  the  soil  and  juri>diction  of 
Georgia  to  all  the  icrritory  v.-ithin  her  chartered  and  Con- 
stitutional liniiis;  fondemned  the  tlireat  of  military  force 
nst  the  St^te,  the  refusal  of  the  President  to  arrest  ami 
punish  General  Gainesfor  "  abusing  and  insulting  the  high- 
est authorities  of  a  State,"  the 'retention  of  Col.  Crowell  in 
office,  the  attempted  abrogation  of  the  treaty  of  the  Indian 
Springs,  the  assertion  of  the  President  that  the  authorities 
of  Georgia  had  no  right  to  enter  the  Indian  country  with- 
out the  consent  of  the  Indians,  &e.,  (fee.,  (fee. 

The  Governor,  also  on  the  same  day.  approved  a  report 
of  the  Senate  committee  on  1:  "f  the  Republic,  (MIM 

which  had  passed  both  Houses,)  01.  tie  special 

of  9th  December,  communicating  the  letter  of  the 
Secretary  of  War,  of  i;7t;i  "Novi-moer,  and  which  report 
protested  against  the  new  treaty,  &c.,  &c. 

A  joint  resolution  was  also  approved,  requesting  the 
President  to  hold  a  treaty  for  the  cession  of  the  Cherokee 
':.-.  within  the  limit^  <.}' Georgia ;  also  one  requesting  (he 
Georgia  Delegation  to  procure  some  relief  for  the  friendly 
Indians,  and  satisfaction  to  the  citi/.ens  of  Georgia  for  sup- 
plies, &c.,  afforded  these  Indians  during  the  troubles  in 
1825,  &c.,  &c. 

A  resolution  was  adopted  by  the  Legislature,  approving 
the  Governor's  measures  for  protecting  tin?  frontier  settle- 
ments, and  authorizing  him  to  employ  military  force  to 
repel  savage  invasion,  &c.,  &c.  Ac.  Act  was  also  passed, 


CHAP.  XII.]  CONTROVERSY  RENEWED.  477 

extending-,  to  20th  February.  1S27,  the  time  for  District 
Surveyors  to  make  their  returns  for  the  contemplated  land 
lottery. 

In  response  to  the  Governors  suggestion,  the  Legislature 
requested  him  to  "  set  apart  a  day  of  general  thanksgiving 
and  prayer."* 

Soon  after  the  adjournment  of  the  Legislature,  the  Gov- 
ernor wrote  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  giving  information  of 
his  having  called  out  a  military  force  to  protect  the  South- 
ern frontier  from  threatened  danger  growing  out  of  a 
sudden  attack  by  Se.minoles  or  Lower  Creeks,  etc.,  etc. 

[1827.]  The  reply  of  the  Secretary,  dated  16th  January. 
1^-27.  to  that  communication,  and  to  the  previous  letter  of 
the  Governor,  of  llth  December,  was  a  renewal  of  the 
Indian  controversy.  He  stated  that  the  President  had  ap- 
proved the  conduct  of  the  Governor  in  calling  out  the  mil- 
itary force,  and  that  the  expenses  attending  the  means 
employed  by  the  Governor,  wore  "  a  proper  debit  against 
the  United  State?."  The  concluding  part  is  all  that  is  im- 
portant for  insertion  here: 

"  I  trust  you  will,  by  reference  to  my  letter,  a  small  part 

of  wlrich  only  I  have  u'hv.i  you.  pen  jive  how  greatly  y.-u 

.M  mistake?!!,  (if  I  have  understood  you  correctly.) 

in  supposing  tliut  the  President  had  declared  that  all  the 

sk  laud,  within  the  limits  of  Georgia,  was  intended  to 

have  been  ceded  by  the  new  treaty."* 

On  the  I'tkh  January,  1827,  the  day  of  the  receipt  of  the 
foregoing,  Gov.  Trotip  replied  to  the  Secretary  of  War.  in 
a  long  and  able  letter,  which  we  would  be  glad  to  publish 
here,  in  full,  but  for  which  room  cannot  be  made.  After 
answering  the  preliminary  portion  of  Mr.  Barbour's  letter, 
and  stating  u  that  the  utmost  precaution  had  been  taken  to 

*  In  fixing  the  first  Thursday  in  January.  1S27,  the  Governor,  in  his  Proclamation,  recom- 
mended that  the  various  religious  denomitiu-  .••pentant  hearts,  make  grateful  ac- 
knowledgment fir  tee  blessings  conferred  by  the  Unirertal  Parent,  and,  viiA  holy  piety  and 
fervrnt  deration,  beseech  thef<nrgirentss  vfsir.s.  and  the  continuance  of  His  gracious  mercy  and 
gooJnes*  to  us  as  a  People."  Amongst  other  causes  for  thanksgiving,  was  an  abundant 
treasury— report^!,  by  th.?  joint  committee  on  finance,  at  $792.122.— ED. 

t  On  IStb  J  I  tlu  receipt  of  the  foregoing,  Governor  Troup,  in  a  private 

letter  to  Dr.  Dame'.!,  v.U:  "Our  re'  Mid  vrLite  friends  are  determined  to  give  me  employ- 
ment as  long  as  I  am  in  office.7' — ED. 


4:78  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CUAP.  XII. 

make  the  expedition  as  little  burdensome  to  the  United 
States  as  possible/'  he  proceeded  to  state  his  regret  that  he 
should,  "  on  any  occasion,  however  innocently,  have  mis- 
understood or  misrepresented,"  the  Secretary  of  War ;  that 
he  had  immediately  informed  the  Legislature  of  what  he 
had  considered  the  "  avowed  intention  of  the  President"  ; 
admitted  that  on  the  face  of  the  new  treaty  "  it  did  not 
appear  to  have  intended  t<>  acquire  all  the  lands,"  but  that, 
when,  "apart  from  the  treaty,  we  sought  the  intention  of 
the  parties  in  matter  foreign  and  extraneous  to  the  tr« 
there  w;i>  some  reason  to  believe  it.  was  the  intention 
of  the  parties  to  acquire  all  the  land,"  &c.,  &c.  Amongst 
other  tiling,  lie  referred  to  the  repeated  dischimer  of 
the  President  "  to  interfere  in  settling  the  boundary"  be- 
tween Georgia  and  Alabama,  the  rejection  by  the  President 
of  the  line  as  established  by  Georgia,  his  anticipation  of  a 
controversy  between  the  two  States,  and  his  intimation 
"that  if  some  other  line  more  satisfactory  to  the  United 
States,  shall  not  be  settled  by  Georgia  and  Alabama," 
measures  would  "not  be  taken  to  acquire  the  fragment," 
&c.  The  whole  letter  showed  a  sincere  desire  for  the  set- 
tlement of  the  controversy;  and  it  gave  an  interesting 
exhibition  of  the  unfortunate  difficulties  which,  as  the  wri- 
ter believed,  without  the  fault  of  Georgia,  had  been  thrown 
in  the  way  of  an  adjustment.  It  concluded  as  follows: 

"The  United  States  will  acknowledge  no  boundary  for 
Georgia  that  is  not  acknowledged  by  Alabama.  What  is 
this  but  virtually  to  declare  the  right  of  Alabama  to  dic- 
tate the  boundary — a  dictation  to  which  if  Georgia  will 
not  submit,  she  incurs  the  penalty  denounced  by  the  United 
States,  of  fastening  upon  her  and  her  people,  forever,  the 
boundary  <•*'  the  instrument  called  the  new  treaty,  as  the 
permanent  boundary  established  by  her  constitution  '.'' 

The  day  following,  (27th  January,)  he  wrote  to  the 
President,  giving  him  information  of  the  "frequent  inter- 
ruptions" suffered  by  the  Georgia  surveyors  "  from  the 
Indians  of  the  Creek  nation,  accompanied  by  indignities 
and  insults,"  &c.,  and  stating  that  the  surveyors  were  "  still 
threatened  with  others  of  more  violent  and  outrageous 


CHAP.  XII.]  SURVEYORS  THREATENED.  479 

character."  He  further  stated  that  there  was  reason  to  be- 
lieve the  "  Agent  of  Indian  Affairs"  was  "  the  prime  mover 
and  instigator  of  the  same ;"  and,  in  support  of  that  belief, 
enclosed  certain  papers ;  and  he  desired~to  be  Informed 
if  that  officer  was  acting  by  "  authority"  of  the  President, 
or  with  his  "  sanction  and  countenance."  Not  supposing 
that,  in  regard  to  the  construction  of  treaties,  &c.,  the 
President  would  "  transfer  the  sovereign  attributes  to  a  sub- 
altern agent,"  &c.,  he  added : 

"  If  these  powers  have  been  insolently  assumed  by  such 
a  subaltern,  for  such  purposes,  it  is  not  for  the  Governor  of 
Georgia  to  dictate  to  the  President  the  measures  which 
ought  to  follow,  as  well  in  vindication  of  the  honor  of  the 
United  States,  as  in  reparation  of  the  wrongs  done  to  Geor- 
gia. The  President  is  competent  to  judge  them,  and 
the  Governor  doubts  not  his  willingness  to  judge  them 
rightly." 

The  first  "  paper"  referred  to  was  a  letter  from  Wiley 
Williams,  a  District  Surveyor,  dated  in  Carroll  county, 
22d  January,  1827,  in  which,  complaining  to  the  Governor 
of  the  threatened  interruption  of  the  surveys,  by  Indians, 
he,  amongst  other  things,  said  : 

"  Eight  or  ten  lusty  fellows  rode  up  to  my  camp,  last 
night,  with  a  letter  written  by  Crowell,  and  signed  by 
several  Chiefs,  and  ordered  me  to  desist  from  surveying 
the  land  on  the  west  side  of  the  new  treaty  line,"  &c.,  &c. 

James  A.  Eogers,  another  District  Surveyor,  wrote  on 
the  23d  : 

"  Enclosed,  you  will  find  a  copy  of  an  instrument  of 
writing,  which  was  handed  to  me  by  a  parcel  of  Indians, 
on  the  21st  inst. ;  and,  after  I  read  the  letter,  they  demanded 
of  me  my  compass,  which  I  had  to  surrender  to  them  ;  but 
after  a  few  minutes  they  agreed  to  give  me  back  my  com- 
pass," £c.,  &c. 

He  added:  "They  threatened  me  very  severe  if  I 
should  be  caught  over  Bright's  line  again,  a  surveying. 
I  have  come  on  to  Mclntosh's  old  place,  and  have  stopped 
my  hands  until  I  hear  from  you,"  <fcc.,  &c. 

The  Indian  paper  referred  to,  was  directed  "to  the  sur- 
veyors running  the  land  west  of  the  line  of  the  late 


480  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

treaty,"  was  dated  12th  January,  1827,  signed  by  Little 
Prince  and  six  others,  and  said  : 

"  We,  the  undersigned  Chiefs  and  head -men  of  the 
Creek  nation,  having  learnt,  with  great  regret,  that  you 
are  engaged  in  surveying  the  lands  west  of  the  line  of  the 
late  treaty,  and  which  was  not  ceded  l>y  that  treaty,  we 
have  again  to  request  and  demand  of  you,  in  the  m---!. 
friendly  terms,  that  you  will  desist  from  stretching's  chain 
over  any  of  our  lands  not  ceded  by  the  treaty,"  &c.,  <fcc. 

In  his  opening  message  to  Congress,  the  President  had 
not  alluded  to  the  difficulties  with  Georgia ;  but,  on  the 
5th  February,  1827,  he  sent  a  special  communication  to 
both  Houses,  submitting  "  a  letter  from  the  Agent  of  the 
United  States  with  the  Creek  Indians,  who  invoke  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  in  defence  of  the  rights 
and  territory  secured,"  as  the  message  said,  "  to  that 
nation  by  the  treaty  concluded  at  Washington,"  &c.,  &c. 
After  stating  the  nature  of  the  complaint,  etc.,  and  the 
considerations  which  had  induced  him  to  abstain  "from 
the  application  of  any  military  force,"  &c.,  &c.,and  that  it 
ought  "not  to  be  disguised  that  the  Act  of  the  Legislature 
of  Georgia,  under  the  construction  given  to  it  by  the  •• 
ernor  of  that  State,  and  the  surveys  made,  or  attempted, 
by  his  authority,  bc/oud  the  boundary  secured  by  the 
treaty  of  Washington,"  were  "  in  direct  violation  of  the 
supreme  law  of  the  land,  set  forth  in  a  treaty  which"  had 
"  received  all  the  sanctions  provided  by  the  constitution 
which  we  had  sworn  to  support  and  maintain,"  the  > 
sage  added : 

"Happily  distributed  as  the  sovereign  powers  of  the 
people  of  this  Union  have  -been,  between  their  General 
and  State  Governments,  their  history  has  already  too  often 
presented  collisions  between  these  divided  authorities,  with 
regard  to  the  extent  of  their  respective  powers.  No  in- 
stance, however,  has  hitherto  occurred,  in  which  this 
collision  has  been  urged  into  a  conflict  of  actual  force.  No 
other  ca.-e  is  known  to  have  happened,  in  which  the  appli- 
cation of  military  force  by  the  Government  of  the  Union 
has  been  prescribed  for  the  enforcement  of  a  law,  the 


CHAP.  XII.]  PRESIDENT'S  MESSAGE,  &c.  481 

violation  of  which  has,  within  any  single  State,  been  pre- 
scribed by  a  legislative  act  of  the  State.  In  the  present 
instance,  it  is  rny  duty  to  say,  that  if  the  legislaiive  and 
executive  authorities  of  the  State  of  Georgia  should  perse- 
vere in  acts  of  encroachment  upon  the  territories  secured 
by  a  solemn  treaty  to  the  Indians,  and  the  laws  of  the 
TJnion  remain  unaltered,  a  superadded  obligation,  even 
higher  than  that  of  human  authority,  will  compel  the  Ex- 
ecutive of  the  United  States  to  enforce  the  laws,  and  fulfil 
the  duties  of  the  nation,  by  all  the  force  committed  for  that 
purpose  to  his  charge.  That  the  arm  of  military  force 
will  be  resorted  to  only  in  the  event  of  the  failure  of  all 
other  expedients  prov.ded  by  the  laws,  a  pledge  has  been 
given  by  the  forbearance  to  employ  it  at  this  time.  It  is 
submitted  to  the  wisdom  of  Congress  to  determine  whether 
any  further  act  of  legislation  may  be  necessary  or  expe- 
dient, to  meet  the  emergency  which  these  transactions  may 
produce." 

Accompanying  this  message,  were  sundry  documents ;  the 
first  in  order  being  a  letter  from  Col.  John  Crowell  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  dated  at  the  Creek  Agency,  15th  Jan- 
nary,  1827,  stating  that,  a  few  days  before,  the  Little  Prince 
had  complained  to  him  that  "  the  Georgia  Surveyors  were 
surveying  lands  West  of  the  line  of  the  late  treaty  ;"  that, 
at  the  request  of  that  Chief,  and  in  his  name,  he  had  writ- 
ten to  the  Surveyors,  requiring  them  to  desist,  but  that  they 
"  persisted  in  their  surveys  to  the  line  run  by  the  Georgia 
Commissioners  as  the  line  between  Georgia  and  Alabama," 
&c.,  &c.;  that,  "  at  the  request  of  a  number  of  Chiefs,  with 
the  Little  Prince  at  their  head,"  he  had  again  written  to 
the  Surveyors,  "  in  the  most  friendly  terms,"  "  requiring 
of  them  to  stop  surveying  the  lands  West  of  the  line  of  the 
treaty  of  Washington,"  and  that  "  a  deputation  of  Chiefs" 
had  "  accompanied  the  bearer  of  the  letter,  with  the  avowed 
intention  of  stopping  the  Surveyors,"  &c. 

The  letter  concluded  : 

"  The  Chiefs  have  requested  me  to  apprise  you  that  the 
authorities  of  Georgia  had  extended  their  surveys  west  of 
the  line  of  the  treaty  of  Washington,  thereby  violating  the 
express  stipulations  of  that  instrument,  which  they  held  to 
be  sacred  ;  and  to  implore  the  Government  to  interpose  its 

61 


482  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

authority  to  protect  them  in  their  rights  under  that  treaty. 
If  Georgia  is  permitted  to  violate  that  treaty,  with  impu- 
nity, why  may  not  Alabama?  And  they  ask,  where  arc 
they  to  look  for  protection,  but  to  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  ?" 

The  next  document,  in  order,  was  the  reply  of  the  Secre- 
tary of  War  to  Col.  Crowcll,  dated  29th  January,  1827  ;  in 
which,  after  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  Colonel  Croweli's 
letter  above  noticed,  with  "  the  message  of  the  Chiefs  im- 
ploring the  Government  to  interpose  its  authority,"  &c.,  the 
Secretary  said : 

"  The  President  directs  me  to  convey  to  the  Little  Prince, 
and  the  Head-men  and  Warriors  of  the  Creek  Nation,  his 
assurances  that  he  feels  the  binding  obligation  of  the  treaty 
of  Washington  no  less  forcibly  than  they  ;  and  that  it  is  hi;. 
intention  to  execute  faithfully  every  clause  and  condition 
thereof.  To  this  assurance  he  directs  me  to  add,  further, 
that  he  will  take  immediate  steps  to  secure  to  them  all  the 
rights,  as  these  are  guarantied  in  said  treaty.  But  the  Presi- 
dent expects  it  of  trie  Creek  Nation,  that  it  will  not  frus- 
trate his  purposes  by  taking  any  steps  of  a  hostile  charac- 
ter, themselves ;  and  he  enjoins  it  on  you  so  jto  counsel 
them  in  regard  to  this  matter,  as  to  induce  them  to  rely 
upon  the  protection  of  the  United  States,  and  leave  the  sub- 
ject in  controversy  wholly  to  the  Government.  They  have 
very  properly  made  known  their  grievances,  .-.s  becomes 
good  people  ;  and  further  it  will  be  expected  of  them  they 
will  not  go,  but  wait  for  such  measures  as  the  wisdom  of 
the  Government  may  devise  to  secure  to  them  their  rights, 
as  these  are  guarantied  in  the  treaty  of  Washington/' 

The  next  document,  in  order,  was  a  letter  from  the  Sec- 
retary of  War  to  Governor  Troup,  dated  2!Hh  January, 
1827,  as  follows : 

Sir:  Complaints  have  been  made,  to  the  President,  by 
the  Creeks,  through  the  United  States  Agent,  against  the 
instrusions  of  the  Surveyors  of  Georgia  on  their  lands, 
guarantied  to  them  by  the  treaty  concluded  with  them  at 
Washington,  on  the  24th  January,  1820.  With  these  com- 
plaints they  have  united  an  appeal  to  the  President,  calling 
for  his  interposition  to  protect  them  in  thoir  rights,  by  caus- 
ing this  treaty  to  be  inviolably  maintained. 


CHAP.  XII.]  INSTRUCTIONS  TO  OFFICERS.  483 

The  pretensions  under  which  these  surveys  are  attempted, 
are  in  direct  violation  of  the  treaty,  and,  if  persevered  in, 
must  lead  to  a  disturbance  of  the  public  tranquillity.  The 
treaty  of  Washington,  like  all  other  treaties  which  have 
received  the  constitutional  sanction,  is  among  the  supreme 
laws  of  the  land.  Charged,  by  the  Constitution,  v;ith  the 
execution  of  the  laws,  the  President  will  feel  himself  com- 
pelled to  employ,  if  necessary,  all  the  means  under  his 
control,  to  maintain  the  faith  of  the  nation,  by  carrying 
the  treaty  into  effect. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 

Your  obedient  servant, 

JAMES  BARBOUE. 

Besides  the  foregoing,  were  two  letters  from  the  Secre- 
tary of  War — one  to  John  H.  Morel,  II.  S.  Marshal,  and  the 
other  to  Ki chard  W.  Habersham,  U.  S.  Attorney,  for  the 
District  of  Georgia ;  one  dated  29th,  and  the  other  30th 
January. 

To  the  Marshal,  (enclosing  the  letter  to  Mr.  Habersham,) 
he  said : 

"  I  am  instructed  to  charge  you  to  lose  no  time,  on  the 
receipt  of  the  process,  which  will  be  delivered  you  by  the 
Attorney,  in  promptly  executing  it,  and  taking  the  steps 
directed  by  law  in  such  cases,"  &c.,  &c. 

In  his  letter  to  Mr.  Habersham,  the  Secretary  of  War, 
after  reciting  that  "  official  information"  had  been  received 
by  the  President,  "  that  certain  persons,  under  the  pretense 
of  surveying,"  had  "  entered  the  lands  of  the  Creek  In- 
dians, directly  in  violation  of  the  late  treaty,"  &c.,  "  and 
directly  in  violation  of  the  law  of  Congress,  regulating  in- 
tercourse with  the  Indian  tribes,"  said : 

"  The  chiefs  and  warriors  of  this  tribe  have  appealed  to 
the  President  for  protection,  by  whom  I  am  now  instructed 
to  direct  you,  without  a  moment's  delay,  to  proceed  to 
obtain  the  proper  process  with  which  to  arrest  them,  which 
process  you  will  cause  to  be  delivered  to  the  Marshal  of 
the  District,  that  they  may  be  made  amenable  to  law, 
&c.,  &c. 

*  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  add  that  no  arrests  wero  made ;  but  it  i»due  to  the  memory 
of  that  patriotic  Georgian,  Richard  \V.  Habersham,  to  state,  that,  after  taking  such  prelimi- 
nary steps  as  hr  deemed  necessary  to  prevent  embarrassment  to  the  f.  S.  Government,  be 


484  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

The  last  paper,  in  order,  was  a  letter  from  the  Secretary 
of  War  to  Lieut.  J.  K.  Vinton,  of  the  U.  S.  Army  ;  in 
which,  after  stating  the  "official  information"  received  by 
the  President,  in  regard  to  the  conduct  of  the  surveyors, 
and  other  "information,  though  unofficial,"  that  the  In- 
dians had  "  interposed  and  prevented"  the  completion  of 
the  surveys,  and  that  the  chiefs  and  warriors  had  "  ap- 
pealed to  the  President  to  protect  them  in  their  right.-,"  lie- 
added  : 

"In  this  posture  of  affairs,  it  has  been  determined  to 
dispatcli  a  special  agent,  for  the  purpose  of  bearing  dis- 
patches to  the  Governor  of  Georgia,  and  to  the  District 
Attorney  and  Marshal  of  the  United  States  for  that  State, 
and  also  to  the  Agent  of  the  Creek  Indians,  to  endeavor, 
if  possible,  to  prevent  a  resort  to  violent  measures,  either 
by  the  authorities  of  Georgia  or  the  Indian?.  Colliding 
alike  in  your  zeal,  capacity  and  discretion,  I  have  deter- 
mined to  select  you  for  this  service. 

"On  the  receipt  of  your  instructions,  you  will  proceed, 
with  the  least  possible  delay,  to  Milledgeville,  and  deliver 
the  letter  addressed  to  Governor  Troup,  with  your  own 
hands,  as  also  to  the  Attorney  and  Marshal.  Should  < 
Tronp  give  you  an  answer,  either  verbal  or  written,  you 
will  communicate  it  by  mail ;  as  also  the  receipt  from  the 
District  Attorney  and  Marshal,  of  the  instructions  with 
which  you  will  be  charged  for  them.  Having  accom- 
plished this  part  of  the  duty  assigned  you,  you  will 
proceed  to  the  Creek  Agency,  and  deliver  the  letter  ad- 
dressed to  Col.  Crowell.  Any  information  you  may  obtain 
in  reference  to  the  object  of  your  mission,  you  will 
promptly  communicate  by  mail ;  particularly,  any  acts 
of  violence  which  may  have  occurred,  or  which  may  be 
threatened.  Carefully  abstain  from  any  remarks  which 
may  disclose  your  object,  and  be  still  more  careful  not  to 
indulge  in  any  commentary  on  the  affair,  which  may  sub- 
ject you  to  personal  difficulty." 

Lieut.  Vinton  delivered  the  Secretary's  letter  to  Gov. 

resigned  hw  office,  in  n  letter  to  the  Hon.  Henry  Clay,  Secretary  of  State,  In  which,  after 
declining  to  appear  for  the  prosocntiin,  hs  added:  "  In  »  contest  in  which  the  interests  and 
character  of  Georgia  are  eo  deeply  involved,  I  should  feel  myself  unworthy  of  the  olBce  I 
hold,  and  of  the  confidence)  which  the  President  has  hitherto  reposed  In  me,  if,  contrary 
to  my  views  of  right,  and  thn  higher  dutle*  I  owe  to  my  native  State,  I  ronld  array  mytelf 
•gainst  her."— Er>. 


CHAP.  XII.]  GOVERNOR'S  DEFIANCE.  485 

Troup,  on  the  17th  February.    The  following  is  the   re- 


EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  GEORGIA,  ) 
Milledgeville,  llth  Feb.,  1827.      j 

Sir  :  I  received,  this  afternoon,  from  Lieut.  Yinton,  your 
letter  of  the  29th  ult.,  and  read,  within  the  same  hour, 
both  it  and  the  copy  of  it  as  published  in  the  National 
Intelligencer  of  the  7th  inst.  ~No  room  was  left  to  mistake 
the  meaning  of  this  dispatch.  Lieut.  Vinton  announced 
himself,  in  an  introductory  note,  a  copy  of  which  is  here- 
with transmitted,  as  the  Aid  of  the  Commanding  General ; 
and  you  are  sufficiently  explicit  as  to  the  means  by  which 
you  propose  to  carry  your  resolution  into  effect.  Thus  the 
military  character  of  the  menace  is  established,  and  I  am 
only  at  liberty  to  give  it  the  defiance  which  it  merits.  You 
will  distinctly  understand,  therefore,  that  I  feel  it  to  be  my 
duty  to  resist,  to  the  utmost,  any  military  attack  which  the 
Government  of  the  United. States  shall  think  proper  to 
make  on  the  territory,  the  people,  or  the  sovereignty  of 
Georgia ;  and  all  the  measures  necessary  to  the  perform- 
ance of  this  duty,  according  to  our  limited  means,  are  in 
progress.  From  the  first  decisive  act  of  hostility,  you  will 
be  considered  and  treated  as  a  public  enemy  ;  and,  with 
the  less  repugnance,  because  you,  to  whom  we  might  con- 
stitutionally have  appealed  for  our  own  defence  against 
invasion,  are  yourselves  the  invaders,  and,  what  is  more, 
the  unblushing  allies  of  the  savages  whose  cause  you  have 
adopted. 

You  have  referred  me,  for  the  rule  of  my  conduct,  to  the 
treaty  of  Washington,  "which,  like  all  other  treaties  which 
have  received  the  constitutional  sanction,  is  among  the 
supreme  laws  of  the  laud,"  and  which  the  President  is 
therefore  bound  to  carry  into  effect  "by  all  the  means 
under  his  control."  In  turn,  I  take  the  liberty  to  refer  you 
to  a  treaty  of  prior  date  and  prior  ratification,  concluded 
at  the  Indian  Springs,  a  copy  of  the  proclamation  of  which 
under  the  sign  manual  of  the  President,  I  have  the  honor 
to  enclose.  On  a  comparison  of  dates,  the  President  may 
think  proper  to  remind  the  Congress  that  the  old  grant  claims 
preference  to  the  new  ;  and  that,  when  vested  rights  have 
passed,  the  old  treaty,  like  the  old  grant,  has  preference  of 
the  new. 

You  have  deemed  it  necessary  to  the  personal  safety  ol 
Lieut.  Vinton,  to  impose  on  him  the  injunction  of  profound 
secrecy,  in  the  execution  of  your  orders,  whilst  you  cause 
to  be  published,  at  Washington,  the  very  instructions  which 


486  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

disclose  those  orders  and  enjoin  that  secrecy,  and  which 
in  i'act  reached  this  place,  by  the  public  prints,  even  before 
Lieut.  Vinton  had  had  an  opportunity  to  deliver  your 
dispatch.  You  mistake  the  character  ot'  the  people  of 
Georgia.  Officers  of  the  United  States,  engaged  in  the 
performance  of  their  lawful  duties,  have  only  to  deport 
themselves  as  gentlemen,  to  find  the  same  security  and 
protection  in  Georgia,  as  under  the  aegis  of  the  govern- 
ment at  "Washing! 

I  have  the  honor  to  be  your  obedient  servant, 

M.  TROUP. 
Hon.  James  Barbour,  Secretary  of  War. 

The  following  orders  were  forthwith  issued  : 

K  \ivrn  ••.  DEPARTMENT,  GEORGIA,  ) 

07. 


MtiUd  ;7>/>  F,  l>..  1807 

Ordered,  That  the  Attorney  and  Solicitors  General  of 
this  State,  in  every  instance  or  complaint  n;a<le  <>!'  the  ar- 
rest of  any  Surveyor,  engaged  in  the  s-.irvey  of  the  late 
acquired  territory,  by  any  civil  process,  under  the  authority 
of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  do  take  all  neces- 
sary and  legal  measures  to  effect  the  liberation  of  the  per- 
son so  arrested,  and  to  bring  to  justice,  either  by  indictment 
or  otherwise,  the  officers  or  parties  concerned  in  such  arrest- 
ation,  as  offenders  against  the  laws  and  violators  of  the 
peace  and  personal  security  of  the  public  officers  and  citi- 
zens of  this  State  :  That  they  give  professional  advice  and 
assistance,  in  their  defence  against  any  prosecution  or  action 
which  may  be  instituted  against  them  as  officers  in  the  ser- 
vice of  the  State,  and  that  they  promptly  make  known  to 
this  Department  their  acts  and  doings  in  the  premises.  It 
is  moreover  enjoined  on  the  civil  magistrates  of  this  State, 
having  competent  jurisdiction  of  the  same,  to  be  aiding  and 
assisting  in  inquiring  into  the  cause  of  every  such  arrest  or 
detention,  as  aforesaid,  that  the  person  may  be  discharged 
forthwith,  if  illegally  or  unjustly  detained,  and  in  afford- 
ing such  redress  to  the  aggrieved  or  injured  party  as  by 
law  he  may  be  entitled  to  receive.^ 
By  the  Governor:  K.  II.  FIERCE, 

Secretary. 

*    In  speaking  of  this  reply,  tbc  Legislature  of  1827  said  it  was  "the_more  satisfactory, 
••-•,  unlike  some  recreant  throats,    that  arc  made  for  rffrct  and   intimiiMinn. 
1  by  a  preparation  so  praro  and  determined,  as  tr>  relievo  it  from  all  sns).ir<">n  of  being 
>''k,  or  unmeaning.''  —  En. 

t  Tli  roe  days  afterwards,  the  Governor  addressed  a  '•  circular''  to  the  Attorney  and  Solici- 
tors General,  in  which  he  said:  "  In  carrying  into  effort  tho  order  of  the  17th  inst.,  you  are 
instructed  to  assume  and  support  the  inapplicability  of  tho  penal  Statute  of  the  United  State5, 
a*  qnoted  in  the  President's  late  message,  to  the  case  of  an  officer  engaged  in  the  service  of  » 


CHAP.  XII.]  PROGRESS  OF  AFFAIRS, 

HEAD-QUARTERS,  Milledgeville,  17th  Feb.,  1827. 
The  Major-Generals  commanding  the  6th  and  7th  Divi- 
sions, will  immediately  issue  orders  to  hold  in  readiness  the 
several  regiments  and  battalions  within  their  respective 
commands,  to  repel  any  hostile  invasion  of  the  territory  of 
this  State.     Depots  of  arms  and  ammunition,  central  to 
each  Division,  will  be  established  in  due  time. 
By  the  Commander-in-Chief : 

JOHN  W.  A.  SANFOED, 
Aid-de-Cainp. 

It  is  unnecessary  to  detail  the  various  measures  which  the 
Governor  took,  to  put  the  State  in  an  attitude  of  defence, 
according  to  the  "  limited  means"  at  his  command.  The 
controversy  had  at  length  reached  a  crisis  ;  the  argument 
had  been  exhausted,  and  either  party  might  be  considered 
as  saying  to  the  other : 

"  My  commission 
Is  not  to  reason  of  the  deed,  but  do  it." 

Happily,  however,  better  counsels  were  to  prevail  at 
Washington.  It  was  soon  perceived  that  the  threat  of  mil- 
itary force  could  have  no  effect  upon  Georgia  or  her  Gover- 
nor ;  and,  fortunately,  a  resort  to  arms  was  not  tried. 

The  President's  Message  produced  a  sensation  in  Con- 
gress. In  the  Senate,  it  was  referred  to  a  special  commit- 
tee of  Jive',  and,  in  the  House,  to  a  committee  of  seven.''-' 


sovereign  State,  under  the  authority  of  its  laws— that  Statute  having  relation  only  to  private  in- 
dividuals trespassing-  upon  lands  in  the  possession  of  the  Indians.  The  distinction,  too,  be- 
tween trespasses  committed  on  such  lands,  claimed  by  the  United  States,  or  by  the  State,  will  be 
obvious  to  you.  You  will  not  neglect,  on  any  occasion  requiring  it,  to  assert,  in  its  most 
ample  latitude,  the  right  of  sovereignty  and  jurisdiction  of  the  State  over  all  the  lands  within 
her  chartered  limits,  and,  consequently,  the  absolute  right  of  survey  at  all  times,  as  necessarily 
appertaining  to  that  sovereignty  and  jurisdiction." — ED. 

*  In  moving  its  reference,  with  the  accompanying  documents,  in  the  Senate,  Mr.  Berrien 
made  a  speech  of  s.imo  length  ;  and.  amongst  other  tilings,  speaking  of  a  resort  to  military 
force,  said:  "  If  such  an  cxe're: -so  of  po\\vr  may  find  the  color  of  justification,  r..ider  existing 
laws,  does  it  not  become  u?,  as  the  guardians  of  the  rights  of  the  States,  by  somo  clear  and 
:-\plicic  act  oi' legislation,  to  take  from  such  an  exer;iso  of  prerogative  the  shadow  of  pret. ; 

In  the  House,  Mr.  Forsyth  was  the  principal  speaker  from  Georgia.  Amongst  other  thiugs. 
he  said:  "He  rejoiced  that,  at  length,  the  strange  circumstances  of  this  case  had  been  pre- 
sented to  the  House  in  such  a  form  as  to  compel  the  rendering  of  a  solemn  decision  between 
the  Executive  and  the  State  of  Georgia,  and  that  it  was  called  for  at  this  time— not  by  them, 
for  they  had  been  demanding'  it  for  years  past— but  that  now  the  call  came  from  the  £x"i;u- 
tive.  He  could  not,  however,  as  a  Representative  of  Georgia,  consent  to  sit  ;>nd  quietly  hear 
the  charges  brought  forward  in  this  communication  against  the  authorities  of  that  State. 


488  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XII. 

The  report  of  the  House  committee,  (which,  -with  the 
documents  appended  to  it,  occupies  more  than  eight  hun- 
dred pages  of  printed  matter,)  was  presented  on  3d  March, 
and  was  thoroughly  against  Georgia.  It  recommended  the 
expediency  of  procuring  "  a  cession  of  the  Indian  lands  in 
State  of  Georgia,"  and  "  that,  until  such  a  cession  is 
procured,  the  law  of  the  laud,  as  set  forth  in  the  treaty  of 
Washington,  ought  to  be  maintained,  by  all  necessary  con- 
stitutional and  legal  means." 

On  the  report  being  read,  Mr.  Drayton,  one  of  the  com- 
mittee, moved  a  substitute,  recognizing,  to  the  fullest  ex- 
tent, the  rights  of  Georgia.  "  He  expressed  his  readiness 
to  discuss  the  questions,  but  preferred  not  to  do  so  then." 

The  report  of  the  Senate  committee,  presented  on  1st 
March,  although  not  so  elaborate,  took  a  conciliatory  view 
of  the  questions,  and  deprecated,  in  such  cases,  "  the  resort 
to  force,"  which,  it  said,  "  would  be  alike  vain  and  nuga- 
tory." It  concluded  with  recommending  the  following 
resolution  : 

"  Resolved.  That  the  President  of  the  United  States  be 
respectfully  requested  to  continue  his  exertions  to  obtain, 
from  the  Creek  Indians,  a  relinquishment  of  any  claim  to 
lands  within  the  limits  of  Georgia." 

As  Congress  adjourned  on  the  3d  of  March,  nothing 
further  was  done  in  the  premises ;  and,  indeed,  the  whole 
question  was  about  to  be  settled  speedily  and  peaceably. 

On  the  31st  of  January,  two  days  after  the  date  of  his 
letter  by  Lieut.  Vinton,  the  Secretary  of  War  wrote,  as 
follows,  to  Col.  Crowell : 

"  Since  my  letter  to  you,  of  29th  inst.,  the  Department 
has  had  information  submitted  to  it,  which  appears  to  be 
entitled  to  respect,  that,  on  a  proper  representation  being 
made  to  the  Chiefs,  of  the  peculiar  state  of  things  as  they 
now  exist  in  regard  to  the  remainder  of  their  lands  within 
the  limits  of  Georgia,  they  will  not  object,  for  a  suitable 
moneyed  consideration,  to  sell.  This  information,  and 

They  bad  done  nothing  which  violated  the  Constitution  of  the  country.     / 
the  fMe  of  the  Executive."    The  Senate  Com!:ii:  :  <if  .Messrs.  Ben  ton.  E-rrifii.  Van 

Burcn,  Smith,  of  S.  C.,  and  ILirrUrm  ;  the   House   Committee   consisted  of  Messrs.  Edward 
Everett,  Powell,  Cockcr  Drayton,  Whittelsey,  Lawrence  and  Buckner.— ED. 


CHAP.  XII.]  PROMISED  PACIFICATION.  489 

which  is  from  a  source  of  great  respectability,  is,  in  sub- 
stance, that  the  Indians  would  sell  this  remaining  portton 
of  their  lands  within  the  limits  of  that  State,  if  they  were 
assured  of  a  prompt  and  suitable  compensation.  I  therefore 
enjoin  it  on  you,  as  a  duty  of  great  importance,  to  adopt  such 
mode  as  may  seem  in  your  discretion  to  be  best,  to  obtain 
their  consent  to  relinquish  their  hold  upon  these  pine  bar- 
rens, which  can  be  of  no  value  to  them ;  and  thus  secure 
that  state  of  quiet,  which  it  is  so  much  the  desire  of  the 
Executive  to  realize.  On  ascertaining  the  views  of  the 
Chiefs,  you  will  communicate  them  to  the  Department ;  and 
also,  at  the  same  time,  the  amount  of  the  consideration 
money  which  they  will  be  willing  to  receive  for  those  lands." 

The  publication  of  the  foregoing  letter  presented  to  Gov. 
Troup  the  occasion  for  writing  the  following,  which  is 
amongst  the  noblest  of  his  many  noble  productions.  It 
was  published,  immediately,  by  the  Georgia  Delegation, 
through  the  columns  of  the  National  Intelligencer,  and 
must  have  had  a  happy  effect  in  tranquilizing  the  public 
mind  on  the  subject  of  Georgia's  Indian  difficulties.  How 
wide  of  the  mark  was  the  observation  of  the  editor  of  Niles' 
Weekly  Register,  on  republishing  this  letter,  when  he  said  : 
"  We  shall  only  say,  for  the  present,  that,  if  Gov.  Troup 
has  leen  right,  this  Union  is  held  together  only  by  a  rope 
of  sand,  and  is  not  worth  an  effort  to  preserve  it !" 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT.  GEORGIA,   \ 
MiUedffeoiUe,  2lst  Feb.,  1827.      ( 

Gentlemen  :  I  was  glad  to  learn,  by  the  mail  of  to-day, 
that  measures  have  been  taken  by  the  President,  subse- 
quently to  the  communication  of  the  Secretary  of  War,  of 
the  29th  ult.,  to  procure  the  lands  left  out  by  the  instru- 
ment called  the  new  treaty.  I  have  uniformly  urged  tins 
measure  on  the  General  Government,  from  the  moment  ] 
professed  a  willingness,  contingently,  to  adopt  it,  and  m  no 
part  of  the  correspondence  more  strenuously  than  in  my 
letter  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  of  the  26th  January,  a  copy 
of  which  was  transmitted  to  you  by  the  last  mail, 
known  to  me,  that  a  sincere  desire  to  procure  them,  accom- 
panied by  corresponding  efforts,  could  not  fail  ot  success, 
and  I  had  felt  both  surprise  and  regret  that  any  reluctance 
had  been  manifested  to  have  recourse  to  the  necessary 

62 


490  I'1|-'K  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  XII. 

measures  without  delay.  The  reasons  assigned  for  the  post- 
p'oneraent,  were,  in  no  aspect  of  them,  satisfactory  ;  and  so 
the  President  was  informed  in  a  candid  and  amicable  spirit. 
You  are  at  liberty  to  state  to  the  councils  before  whom 
you  represent  the  interests  and  rights  of  this  State,  what 
has  been  repeatedly  represented  to  the  President  himself, 
that  the  Governor  of  Georgia  has  never,  at  any  time,  enter- 
tained tlie  idea  <>f  resorting  to  military  force  to  counteract, 
measures  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  but  on 
the  occasion  when  it  wa<  deemed  better  in  honor,  in  con- 
science, and  in  duty,  to  sacriliee  every  tiling  we  hold  dear, 
than  unresistingly  to  submit.  On  the  last  occasion,  when 
military  coercion  was  threatened, the  President  was  prompt- 
ly and  candidly  informed  of  my  resolution  to  meet  that 
coercion  in  a  military  manner.  So  far  as  a  determination 
was  expressed  to  resort  to  the  civil  process,  it  was  decided 
to  resort  to  the  like  process  to  sustain,  according  to  the 
Constitution  and  laws  of  the  United  States,  and  the  Con- 
stitution and  laws  of  the  State,  the  public  officers  of  Geor- 
gia engaged  in  the  execution  of  their  duties  under  the 
orders  directly  of  its  Legislative  and  Executive  authorities 
— an  obligation,  on  our  part,  enjoined  by  the  very  sanction 
which  the  President,  in  his  late  message,  refers  to,  as  being 
paramount  to  any  human  power,  and,  of  course,  equally 
imperative  with  us  as  with  him.  I  cannot  acknowledge  a 
power  in  the  United  States,  to  bring  before  its  judicial  tri- 
bunals, for  trial,  and  judgment,  and  punishment,  the 
Governor,  or  Judges,  or  Representatives,  or  other  ofli- 
as  such,  acting  under  the  authority  of  the  Constitution  and 
laws  of  the  States.  Whilst,  therefore,  no  intention  exists 
to  resist  the  civil  authority  of  the  United  States,  I  consider 
myself  bound  to  afford  to  officers  of  Georgia,  acting  under 
my  orders,  all  the  protection  I  can,  consistently  with  the 
Constitution  and  laws  ;  and  I  can  never  admit  that  wr 
done  by  officers  of  the  United  States  to  officers  of  the  S; 
shall  not  be  inquired  into  and  redressed  by  the  State  tri- 
bunals. 

I  consider  all  questions  of  mere  sovereignty  as  matter 
for  negotiation  between  the  States  and  the"  United  States, 
until  the  competent  tribunal  shall  be  assigned  by  the  Con- 
stitution itself,  for  the  adjustment  of  them. 

1  am  not  wanting  in  confidence  in  the  Supreme  Court  of 
the  United  States,  in  all  cases  falling  within  their  acknowl- 
edged jurisdiction.  As  men,  I  would  not  hesitate  to  refer 
our^cause  to  their  arbitration  or  umpirage.  On  an  amica- 
ble issue  made  up  between  the  United  States  and  oursclvi--. 


CHAP.  XII.]  LETTER  TO  GEORGIA  DELEGATION.  491 

we  might  have  had  no  difficulty  in  referring  it  to  them  as 
judges,  protesting,  at  the  same  time,  against  thejurisdiction, 
and  saving  our  rights  of  sovereignty.  If  the  United  States 
will,  with  or  without  the  consent  of  Georgia,  make  a  ques- 
tion before  the  Supreme  Court,  it  will  be  for  the  Govern- 
ment of  Georgia  ultimately  to  submit,  or  not,  to  the  decision 
of  that  tribunal.  But,  acccording  to  my  limited  concep- 
tion, the  Supreme  Court  is  not  made,  by  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  the  arbiter  in  controversies  involving 
rights  of  sovereignty  between  the  States  and  the  United 
States.  The  Senate  of  the  United  States  may  have  so  con- 
sidered it,  because  it  has  been  proposed  to  make  that  hon- 
orable body  itself  the  arbiter  and  umpire  between  them. 
The  States  cannot  consent  to  refer  to  the  Supreme  Court,  as 
of  right  and  obligation,  questions  of  sovereignty  between 
them  and  the  United  States,  because  that  Court,  being  of 
exclusive  appointment  by  the  Government  of  the  United 
States,  will  make  the  United  States  the  judge  in  their  own 
cause.  This  reason  is  equally  applicable  to  a  State  tribunal. 
Hence,  the  difficulties  likely  to  arise  even  by  a  resort  to 
the  civil  process ;  and  thus  you  will  perceive  how  infinitely 
preferable  it  is  to  carry  into  effect  immediately  the  meas- 
ure contemplated  by  the  instructions  to  the  Agent. 

It  is  indeed  to  be  lamented,  that  a  person  so  well  known 
here  for  his  unfitness,  should  have  been  charged  with  such 
an  office ;  but  this  very  knowledge  will  make  the  failure,  if 
the  failure  happen,  not  our  fault,  but  the  fault  of  his  em- 
ployers. 

Of  all  the  wrongs  wantonly  and  cruelly  inflicted,  none 
have  been  borne  with  more  patience  than  the  charge  of 
seeking  a  dissolution  of  the  Union.  My  intentions  have 
been  to  cement  and  perpetuate  it,  by  preserving,  inviolate, 
the  rights  of  the  parties  to  the  compact,  without  which  the 
compact  would  be  of  no  value  ;  and  to  this  end  1  have  un- 
ceasingly labored.  Time  may  probably  disclose  that  a  very 
imperfect  judgment  had  erred  in  the  adoption  of  the  best 
means ;  biit  the  intentions  will  remain  the  same,  and  He 
who  must  finally  judge,  will  certainly  not  mistake  them. 

Hoping  that  the  President  will  not  fail  in  _  the  contem- 
plated negotiation,  and  that  the  matters  in  difference  may 
be  speedily  and  amicably  adjusted  to  the  entire  satisfaction 
of  the  parties  in  controversy,  I  have  not  hesitated  to  make 
you  this  frank  disclosure  and  explanation,  that  you  may  use 
it,  at  your  discretion,  to  promote  the  peace  and  harmony 
which  ouo-ht  ever  to  subsist  between  the  States  and  the 


4;»-j  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUF.  [CHAP.  XII. 

United  States,  and  in  winch  I   assure  you  none  can  feel 
deeper  concern  than 

Yours,  vcrv  respectfully. 

'G.  M.  TROUT. 

The  Honorable  Senators  and  Kepresentati 
from  Georgia,  in  Congress  of  the 
Tinted  States. 

[ISt^T.  |  <  >n  the  lirsl  Monday  in  .May,  elections  for  county 
officers  were  held  in  the  new  counties  laid  oft'  from  the 
lands  ceded  by  the  treaty  of  the  Indian  Springs;  and,  the 
surveys  having  been  completed,  the  Lottery  was  carried 
on  with  so  much  t-xpedition,  that  the  Georgia  Journal,  of 
L'lM  May,  announced  the  organization  and  settlement  of  the 
new  country.  What  had  be  wilderness,  was 

now  becoming  a  garden  ;  and  although  Gov.  Troup's  term 
of  office  expired  before  the  recognition,  by  the  di- 
tented  Creeks,  of  the  title  of  Grorgia  to  all  their  hinds 
within,  her  limits,  yet  this  was  accomplished  by  Articles 
of  Agreement  concluded  with  them  at  the  Creek  Agency 
on  the  15th  of  November,  1SL'7,  and  which  were  duly 
ratified  on  the  4th  of  March,  1828. 

By  these  articles,  it  was  expressed,  that  "  they,  the  chiefs 
and  headmen  aforesaid,  agree  to  cede,  and  they  do  hereby 
cede,  to  the  United  States,  all  the  remaining  lands  now 
owned  or  claimed  by  the  Creek  Nation,  not  heretofore 
ceded,  and  which,  on  actual  survey,  may  be  found  to  lie 
within  the  chartered  limits  of  the  State  of  Georgia.''  [For 
these  Articles,  in  full,  see  vol.  7  of  United  States  Statutes 
at  Large,  pages  307,  3o*  and  309.] 

The  following  letter  will  properly  conclude  this  chapter  : 

MII.I.KIH;KVII,LF.,    Fob.  24th,  1827. 

My  Dear  Sir  :  It  was  impossible  for  me,  consistently 
with  my  views  of  right,  to  acquiesce. in  any  of  the  meas- 
ures proposed  to  be  adopted  by  the  General  Government. 
It  never  was  my  intention  to  resist  the  civil  process  I 
military  force,  unless  they  jirst  resorted  to  a  military  force 
to  enforce  it.  It  always  was  my  intention, when  they  re- 
solved to  proceed  civiliter,  to  give  our  officers  all  the  pro- 
tection which  our  civil  magistracy  could  afford  them  under 


GIIAP.  XII.]  LETTER  TO   DR.  DANIELL.  493 

the  Constitution  and  laws.  Our  magistrates  are  bound  to 
extend  this  protection,  so  far  as  it  is  not  inconsistent  with 
the  Constitution  of  the  U.  S.  The  Constitution  of  the  U. 
S.  would  not  authorize  an  Act  of  Congress  which  would 
make  the  public  officers  of  the  State  answerable  to  their 
judicial  tribunals.  The  Act  of  Congress,  referred  to  by 
the  President,  cannot,  either  in  its  letter  or  according  to  its 
intent,  embrace  such  officers  ;  and  of  this  our  own  judicial 
tribunals  are  competent  judges.  What  would  be  our  situ- 
ation, if  the  public  officers  were  answerable  exclusively 
to  the  judicial  tribunals  of  the  II.  Sounder  any  Acts  of 
Congress  which  would  make  them  criminals  before  such 
tribunals  ? — and  what  difference  is  there  in  this  respect 
between  the  Governor,  or  Judges,  and  a  surveyor  ?  The 
President  himself  acknowledges,  in  his  message,  that  the 
surveyors  are  not  to  be  viewed  as  individuals,  but  as 
agents  of  a  sovereign  State,  acting  in  obedience  to  au- 
thority which  they  believe  to  be  binding  on  them.  No 
State  can  have,  rightfully,  any  claims  to  sovereignty, 
which  makes  its  officers  dependent  for  their  protection, 
in  the  discharge  of  their  duties,  on  the  power  of  another 
State.  I  assure  you,  my  dear  friend,  I  have  made  as  much 
of  concession  on  this  subject  as  I  thought  any  of  our  friends 
could  reasonably  ask  of  me.  Those  at  Washington  ha.ve 
been  extremely  anxious  about  the  measures  which  might 
be  taken  here  ;  and  I  have  endeavored,  so  far  as  propriety 
would  permit,  not  to  commit  them  by  any  of  an  odious  or 
censurable  character.  I  trust  that  the  real  friends  of  the 
country  will  nowhere  so  consider  them.  If  they  do,  ] 
will  lament  it,  because  it  has  been  on  their  account  that  I 
have  been  particularly  cautious  to  avoid  it. 

Eemember  me  affectionately  to  the  fainilv,  and  particu- 
larly to  my  little  friend.     Tell  him  that  I  might  have  been 
to  see  him  before  this,  but  for  John  Quincy  Adams. 
Yours,  very  affectionately, 

G.  M.  TKOUP. 

Dr.  Daniell. 


494  MFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROIT.  (fiiAr.  XIII. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

Esccntici     Ch<ii,\ — ///'* 

i,i>t  Ainni'i/      '  '   <!/  J/,7. 

/,'if-/,  n'//, .  innf  ,i  I'nIJ'r   Dinner  aA  Sur'nnmh. —  Election   t<>  th> 

I'll  it,  il  Sf,ll-  M. I'nlitu-nl 

<>l"  'inn  iiml  it    /'ruin  fulfi- 

ll <•  • 

WITH  the  exception  of  the  (-vents  already  noticed,  the 
year  1*27  wa<  prolific  of  not  much  of  interest  in  the  liis- 
of  Georgia.  In  March,  Governor  Troup  received 
official  notice  of  the  adjustment,  of  the  claims  of  Georgia 
for  payment  of  the  tro..ps  that  performed  military  sen 
against  the  Indians  in  the  years  17'.(2.  170;]  and  1791 — a 
measure  that  had  l>een  urged  lor  many  year-,  liefore  Con- 
gress, by  himself  and  others  of  the  Delegations  from 
Georgia. 

As  soon  as  it  was  certainly  known  that  Governor  Troup 
would,  under  no  circumstances,  permit  the  use  of  his  name 
in  connection  with  the  succeeding  canvass  for  Governor, 
the  public  generally  looked  forward  to  Mr.  Forsyth  as  his 
successor  in  that  high  office.  Col.  Duncan  G.  Campbell, 
whose  name  has  been  so  frequently  mentioned  in  connec- 
tion with  the  Indian  treaty  of  1S25,  and  one  of  the  noblest 
men  in  the  State,  was  brought  forward  by  his  friends,  for 
the  office,  but  he  formally  retired  from  the  contest;  and 
Capt.  Matthew  Talbot,  who  was  then  announced  as  a  can- 
didate, died  before  the  election  ;  so  that  Mr.  Forsyth  was 
chosen,  with  hardly  a  show  of  opposition. 

On  the  20th  of  October,  a  meeting  of  citizens  of  Mil- 
ledgevillo  was  held,  with  the  view  of  tendering  to  the 
retiring  Governor  a  public  entertainment.  To  the  letter  of 
the  committee,  in  which  they  spoke  of  the  "  personal  re- 
gard" of  the  citizens  of  Milledgeville,  the  "high  estima- 
tion" in  which  they  held  his  "official  conduct,"  and  the 


CHAP.   XIII.]  OFFERED  ENTERTAINMENT.  495 

"  auspicious  results,  for  the  public  good,"  to  which,  he  had 
brought  his  measures,  "  under  every  difficulty  and  embar- 
rassment," he  returned  the  following  answer  : 

MILLEDGEVILLE,  October  25th,  1827. 

Gentlemen  :  I  take  the  earliest  opportunity  to  acknowl- 
edge the  receipt,  (last  evening,)  of  your  note  of  the  22nd 
inst.,  and  to  ask  the  favor  of  you — whilst  you  return  my 
grateful  thanks  to  my  friends  of  Milledgeville  for  the  unde- 
served testimony  of  their  esteem  and  approbation,  which  it 
conveyed — to  make  known  to  them  my  resolution  to  decline 
the  honor  so  generously  intended.  It  is  enough  that  they 
shall  have  been  pleased  to  consider  me  worthy  of  such  tes- 
timony ;  and  my  regrets  at  parting  with  them  would  only 
be  increased  in  the  degree  in  which  they  should,  to  the  last 
hour,  have  increased  their  kindness  to  me. 

Accept  for  yoiirselves,  gentlemen,  the  expression  of  my 
sincere  friendship  and  highest  consideration. 

G.  M.  TROUP. 

Messrs.  Camak,  Lamar  and 
Boykin,  Committee. 

The  Legislature  convened  on  the  5th  of  November. 
Hon.  Thomas  Stocks  was  re-elected  President  of  the  Sen- 
ate, and  Irby  Hudson,  Esq.,  Speaker  of  the  House.  On 
the  6th,  the  Governor  sent  in,  to  each  House,  the  following, 
being  his  last  Annual  Message,  whicli  is  considerably 
abridged  for  want  of  space  : 

EXECUTIVE  DEPARTMENT,  GEORGIA,  | 
Milledgeville,  Nov.  Qth,  182T.      j 

Fellow-Citizens :  In  making  known  to  you  the  events 
of  the  passing  year,  it  is  equally  my  duty  to  communicate 
those  which  give  pain  as  those  which  afford  pleasure,  so 
that,  without  concealment  or  suppression,  all  may  be  em- 
bodied in  the  history  of  the  times— our  successors  will  take 
counsel  from  them,  and  the  experience  of  the  past  will  be 
equally  profitable,  whether  it  furnish  examples  of  good 
to  be  imitated,  or  of  evil  to  be  avoided. 

Before  the  close  of  the  last  session  of  the  Legislature, 
hope  was  indulged  that  the  controversy  between  the  Gov- 
ernment of  this  State  and  that  of  the  United  States,  was 
happily  terminating :  and  so  indeed  to  all  appearances  it 
was.  The  surveys  of  the  recently  acquired  territory,  so 
long  resisted,  had  proceeded  with  little  or  no  interruption— 


496  L^E  OF  GEORGE  M.   TROUT.  ]<'IIAI-.  XIII 

the  last  of  them  were  about  to  be  completed — the  Indian 
irritation  had  exhausted  itself  in  a  few  demonstrations  of 
hostility;  and  when  calmness  and  tranquillity  had  succeeded 
to  excitement  and  clamor,  and  nothing  remained  to  satisfy 
the  Indian  for  his  imaginary  wrongs,  hut  a  trifling  con- 
sideration in  money,  tin-  Executive  <  i»\ -.•rninent  at  Wash- 
ington seized  the  occasion  as  a  lit  one  to  denounce  the 
Executive  of  Georgia  a>  the  violator  of  the  faith  of  treaties, 
and  the  lawless  invader  of  Indian  rights:  to  forbid  the 
prosecution  of  the  surveys,  and  to  threaten  the  employment 
of  military  force  to  coerce  obedience  to  its  commands;  a 
menace,  which,  without  being  unprecedented  on  the  part  of 
that  Government,  was  yet  so  ill-timed  and  unexpi 
that  but  one  reception  and  but  one  treatment  could  lie 

§iven  to  it.  The  documents,  herewith  transmitted,  will 
isclose  the  manner  of  that  reception  and  treatment  ;  the 
message  of  the  President  to  Oongreas.  communicating  this 
measure,  left  no  doubt  as  to  its  motives  and  its  objects. 
The  councils  and  people  of  Georgia  were  to  lie  subdued, 
at  all  events,  into  a  recognition  of  the  validity  of  the 
instrument  called  the  new  treaty  ;  by  civil  process,  if  civil 
process  would  answer:  by  military  force,  if  it  would  not; 
indeed,  by  all  means  civil  or  military,  as  enjoined  by 

Seradded  obligatl-'ii,   (to  use   th'  "f  the  Presi- 

ent,)  even  higher  than  that  of  human  authority.  It  could 
not  be  seen  why,  under  a  Government  of  laws,  th--  civil  re- 
medy might  not  suffice,  being,  if  not  so  prompt,  at  least 
ample  and  appropriate  ;  or  why,  if  resorted,  to  at  all,  it 
should  not  be  exclusively  depended  on.  The  alternative 
of  a  resort  to  the  military,  on  failure  of  the  civil  remedy,  or 
the  resort  to  both,  concurrently,  for  the  redress  of  the  same 
wrong,  is  not  the  theory,  and  has  not  been,  hitherto,  the 
practice  of  this  Government ;  whenever  it  shall  become  so, 
there  will  be  no  longer  any  difference,  in  substance,  be- 
tween our  own  Constitution  of  Government  and  that  of  the 
most  arbitrary  and  despotic.  It  was  impo-^ible  to  doubt, 
therefore,  from  the  unconstitutional  character  of  the  men- 
ace, from  its  unreasonableness  and  from  the  appalling  con- 
sequences which  must  inevitably  follow  its  execution,  that 
the  temper  which  dictated  it  was  hostile  to  Georgia,  and  bent 
on  her  humiliation  or  destruction.  The  councils  of  Geor- 
gia could  never  recede,  without  the  most  degrading  humili- 
ation, from  the  positions  taken  in  support  of  the  treaty  of  the 
Indian  Springs  ;  it  was  the  professed  object  of  the  menace 
to  produce  that  recession;  and  it  was  obviously  better  for 
Georgia  to  run  the  hazard  of  being  stricken  from  the  roll 


CHAP.  XIII.]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1827.  497 

of  States,  than  by  a  passive  submission  to  surrender,  with 
important  interests  and  essential  rights,  what  was  infinitely 
more  important  and  more  essential,  character;  but  other 
rights  and  interests  than  those  of  Georgia  were  concerned. 
The  doctrine  assumed  in  justification  of  the  menace,  involved 
the  rights  of  all  the  States  ;  it  asserts  the  broad  power  for 
the  Executive  of  the  General  Government,  in  any  contro- 
versy between  a  State  and  the  United  States,  to  decide  the 
right  and  wrong  of  that  controversy,  promptly,  absolutely 
and  finally,  without  appeal,  and  to  enforce  such  decision  by 
the  sword;  a  power  most  awful,  tremendous,  and  unnatural, 
and  not  given  by  the  Constitution  even  to  the  Congress. 
In  such  a  contest,  Georgia  could  make  no  sacrifice  too  dear, 
because  she  contended  in  a  just  and  righteous  cause,  not 
for  herself  alone,  but  for  all  the  States,  whose  honor,  dig- 
nity and  independence  were  alike  at  stake.  Happily  for 
the  country,  the  enforcement  of  this  measure  has  not  been 
as  yet  attempted  ;  whether  on  reconsideration  it  has  been 
yielded  to  more  deliberate  suggestions  and  more  prudent 
counsels,  or  decided  as  wholly  indefensible,  and  therefore 
impracticable,  or  reserved  for  some  other  and  future  occa- 
sion, is  not  known  to  me,  and  can  only  be  conjectured  ;  it  is 
reasonable,  at  least  charitable  to  conclude,  that,  what  in 
this  respect  ought  to  be  done,  has  been  done,  and  that  wis- 
dom and  moderation  can  find  no  amends  for  the  calamities 
of  a  civil  war,  in  the  transfer  from  Georgia  to  the  Indians 
of  a  comparatively  worthless  fraction  of  territory,  which, 
but  for  the  principle  involved,  this  Go vernment  would  not 
deign  to  make  a  subject  of  angry  contention  with  that  of 
the  United  States. 

[One  of  the  paragraphs,  here  omitted,  refers  entirely  to 
the  extinguishment  of  the  title  to  Cherokee  lands,  and  is 
similar  to  views  presented  in  the  Annual  Message  of  1826  ; 
the  other  omitted  paragraph  refers  to  the  memorial  of  the 
preceding  Legislature  to  the  President,  on  the  same  sub- 
ject.] 

Connected  with  other  subjects  of  disagreement  with  the 
Government  of  the  United  States,  is  that  of  the  dividing 
line  between  Florida  and  this  State,  directed  to  be  run  and 
marked  by  several  resolutions  of  the  Legislature.  The  con- 
currence "of  the  General  Government  being  necessary  to 
the  perfection  of  this  measure,  it  was  repeatedly  invited 
and  eventually  obtained.  A  highly  respectable  gentl< 
man,  and  late  Governor  of  Virginia,  Thomas  M.  Kandolph, 
63 


|!l.s  F.I  IT  OF  GF.oKi-K  M.  'IT  |Cii.vr.  XIII. 

having  been  appointed  the  Commissioner  on  the  part  of  the 
United  States.  and  Thomas  Spaldinir.  the  Commissioner  on 
the  part  of  Georgia.  they  proceeded  in  a  spirit  of  harmony 
and  concert  to  t!  ion  of  their  trust  :  and  I  am  happy 

to  inform  you,  that,  without  bringing  their  labors  to  a 
termination  mo>t  desirable,  they  closed  tliem  with  no  inter- 
ruption of  that  spirit  :  on  the  contrary,  witli  an  improve- 
ment of  it  corresponding  to  ihe  intelligence  patriotism  and 
liberal  sentiments  which  distinguish  them. 

[A  portion  of  this  paragraph   is  omitted:   hut   it   is  be- 
lieved tliat  the  concluding  part  e'mbodies  all   that  is  in 
-arv  to  tin-   understand!!!/          '      v.  Troup's   viewfi    on   the 
suhj.-,-t  of  the  lin-  M  Georgia  and 


If  the  point  established  by  Kllicotr.  had,  by  the  Commis- 
sioners of  the  Knitcd  States  and  Georgia.  been  i'ound  to 
coincide  with  t;  tOOTCC  of  ,  Mary's,  the 

OommiSSioner   of  (icoi^-ia    would   have    lit-en    instructed    to 
proceed.      It  \vas  a-certained  that  they  did  not  coincide,  and 
his  proM-re.-s  \va<  accordingly  arrested.      Yon   wili 
that  the  lirst  <|iie-tion   pivscntini;  it-elf  for  >ettleme:it  be- 
tween the  two  Government-,  is.  \\  lietlier  the  point  arbitrarily 
agreed  on  by  Kllicott  and  the  Spanish  Commis-ioner  ;.- 
head  of  the  St.  Mary's.  no\\-  ascertained  not  to  be  the  head 
even  of  the  -tream  pursued  by  Kllicott,  shall  be  considered 
as  the  true  head  under  the  treaty  of  \~'.>~>.     The  other  and 
only  remaining  >]ne*tioii,   \\ill  be,  which  is  the  true  source 
or  head  of   the  St.  Alary'.-.     To    enable  you    jo   act  under 
standingly  on  these  <[ue-tions,  as   well    as  to  afford    - 
satisfaction  to  the  (  iovernment  of  the  Knifed  Slate-,  which 
mast  undoubtedly  revise    it-   proceeding,  1    had    instructed 
a  competent  Airent,  the  -ame  who   acted   as  the  Snrvi-yor 
and  Artist  under   the  Commissioners,   and   who   approved 
himself  worthy  of  their  highest  confidence,  to  proceed  to 
an  examination  of  th  i   branches  of  the  St.  -MarvV. 

for  the  purpi..  -'-ertaininir,  by  actual  admeasurement. 

the  true  head  or  source  of  that  river.  The  correspondence 
and  documents  on  thi>  subject,  together  with  his  report,  are 
submitted.  It  will  be  seen  that  of  the  three  bnu: 
forming  the  St.  Mary's,  viz.:  the  .Northern.  We-tern  and 
Southern  brandies,  the  Southern  is  not  only  the  longest  by 
two  or  three  miles,  and  haying  a  direction  corresponding 
most  naturally  with  the  general  course  and  disemboguement 
of  the  river,  but  discharges  eight  times  more  water  than 
either  of  the  other  branches  and  one  third  more  than  both 


CHAP.  XIII.]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1S-27.  499 

of  them  united,  including  various  other  tributary  streams 
— that,  of  the  three,  the  North  branch,  viz  :  that  pursued 
by  Ellicott,  is  the  most  inconsiderable,  discharging,  in  pro- 
portion even  to  the  Western  branch,  as  two  to  three,  and, 
in  proportion  to  the  Southern  branch,  as  five  to  forty-three  ; 
and  indeed  that  it  is  even  more  inconsiderable  than  another 
stream,  (the  Alligator,)  south  of  it,  and  running  between  it 
and  the  Western  branch.  If  these  facts  are  confirmed 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Government  of  the  United  States, 
the  conclusion  will  be  irresistible,  even  by  itself,  that  we 
must  follow,  not  the  error  or  mistake  of  Ellicott,  but  the 
language  of  the  treaty ;  not  the  point  arbitrarily  deter- 
mined as  the  head  of  the  St.  Mary's,  but  the  true  head  ; 
and  that  the  true  head  or  source  of  the  St.  Mary's  is  to  be 
found,  not  at  the  extremity  of  the  Northern,  but  at  the 
extremity  of  the  Southern,  branch ;  and  that  from  this 
point  the  line  must  be  run,  according  to  the  letter  of  the 
charter  of  Georgia,  of  the  treaty  of  'S3,  of  the  treaty  of  '95, 
and  of  the  Constitution  of  Georgia.  This  detail,  so  inconsist- 
ent with  the  generalizing  character  of  a  message,  will  find 
an  apology  in  the  extreme  reluctance  which  I  feel  to  open 
a  new  controversy  with  the  Government  of  the  United 
States — the  great  delicacy  of  the  question,  (being  one  of 
boundary,) — the  extent  of  territory,  (more  than  two  thous- 
and square  miles,)  which  may  be  involved  in  it,  and  the 
obvious  propriety,  therefore,  in  stating  the  question  for 
the  first  time,  to  state  it  fairly  and  fully. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  inform  you  that  recent  acts  of 
the  General  Government,  and  of  its  different  departments, 
bespeak  a  return  to  good  feelings,  and  give  an  earnest  of 
future  good  understanding,  which  it  has  been  the  sincere 
desire,  as  it  is  the  duty,  of  this  Government,  to  cultivate. 
Our  militia  claims,  so  constantly  and  sedulously,  but  un- 
availingly,  urged  before  that  Government  for  twenty  or 
thirty  years,  have  been  recognized,  and,  under  circum- 
stances, warranting  the  belief  that  some  grains  of  preju- 
dice had  mingled  with  the  former  repeated  considerations 
of  them,  and  that  nothing  was  wanting  to  a  prompt  acknowl- 
edgment of  their  justice  at  all  times,  but  calm,  dispassion- 
ate and  impartial  investigation.  They  are  in  a  course  of 
liquidation  and  settlement. 

[The  part  of  the  message,  here  omitted,  relates  to  expen- 
ses of  military  expedition  for  defence  against  Indians,  and 
expenses  of  running  and  marking  Georgia  and  Florida  line.] 


500  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  XIII. 

Among  the  various  violations  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  people  of  the  Son  thorn  State-  have 
lately  been  made  to  feel  and  to  complain  of  that  prominent 
one  which  has  taken  from  tin-  he  general  guardian- 

sliip  over  the  labor  and  industry  of  the  people,  which,  it 
was  Mipposed,  exclusively  belonged  to  them,  and  which,  it 
i.s  believed,  they  never  have  voluntarily  relinquished.  It 
is  in  the  exercise  of  this  guardianship  that  the  ( 
proceed,  from  session  to  session,  to  tax  one  portion  of  the 
community,  not  interested  in  a  particular  branch  of  in- 
dustry, :ion  im  in.  and 
carrying  "ii,  that  branch.  1  ting  the  liberal  prin- 
ciples which  would  leave  indu-'  'Wii 
employment,  and  returning  to  the  benighted  policy  hmg 
practiced  by  other  nations,  but  now  abandoned  and  aband- 
oning by  all  enlightened  ones,  it  claims  an  absolute  domin- 
ion over  it,  to  fetter,  to  restrain,  to  encoii 
U  cause  it  to  take  any  or  every  direction — th us  substi fining, 
for  the  natural  order  of  things,  the  artificial  B; 
darker  ages.  The  p  aich,  in  raising  revenue  or 
regulating  commerce,  incidentally  protects  manufact 
or  encourages  the  fabrics  which  are  indispensable  to  the 
national  defence,  is  a  very  ditfert"  that 
claimed  by  the  Federal  Government,  to  protect  by  any 
means,  directly  or  indirectly,  all  or  any  of  them,  than  which 
a  more  distinct  substantive  and  important  power  could  not 
be  given  by  any  constitution  to  any  government.  It  is  in 
vain  that  th<  ibr  the  grant  of  this  mighty  power  to 
Congress.  It  is  in  vain  we  plead  the  crue!  icing 
from  the  small  profit  iculture,  to  increase  the  large 
profits  of  manufacture-.  ^Y  e  are  answered,  fn>m  year  to 
year,  by  an  amended  tarilf.  augmenting  the  tribn  ••  and 
multiplying  the  exac  a  ii'  the  Con- 
lacked  vigor  and  animation  for  the  work,  a  combination  of 
States  exclusively  interested  in  perpetuating  the-- 
resolve  themseves  into  a  body  nnknov.  constitution. 
and  dictate  to  the  Government  at  Washing;  I  kind 
and  amount  of  tax  which  the  people  of  other  !iall 
pay;  so  that  we  ma.  ave  to  ask  ourselves,  whic 
the  Government  of  the  United  S  the  assembly  of 
States  which  passes  the  edict  of  taxation,  or  the  authorities 
of  more  regular  and  constitutional  appointment  which 
receive  it  as  law  and  order  its  registration.  I  recommend 
to  you  the  adoption,  without  delay.  rm  remonstrance 
to  the  Congress  against  th'  :i  of  usurpation,  injustice 
and  oppression.  *  You  will  addrc.-s  yourselves,  1  know,  to 


CHAP.  XIII.]  ANNUAL  MESSAGE  OF  1827.  501 

a  formidable  government,  having  the  power,  for  certain 
purposes,  over  the  purse  and  the  sword,  and  now  claiming 
and  exercising  the  power  to  direct  the  national  industry 
and  national  improvement,  without  limitation — in  short, 
the  absolute  masters  of  the  fortunes  of  twelve  million 
people.  Bnt  you  can  yet  speak  in  the  language  of  truth, 
if  not  in  the  spirit  of  freemen.  Your  complaints  may  lx- 
unheeded.  If  they  should  be,  I  recommend  to  you  to 
address  yourselves  to  the  States  having  common  interest 
with  yourselves,  and  to  suggest  the  expediency  of  concur- 
ring in  a  non-consumption  agreement  to  be  carried  into  effect 
by  all  the  means  which  are  constitutionally  given  to  their 
respective  Legislatures.  It  is  painful  to  contemplate  the 
consequences  which  must  follow.  That  government,  whose 
parental  duty  it  is  make  us  all  friends  and  keep  us  so,  is 
straining  its  faculties  to  fasten  upon  the  country  a  system 
which  cannot  fail  to  set  one  part  of  it  in  hostile  array  against 
the  other.  In  self-defence,  we  are  first  driven  to  a  non-con- 
sumption, which,  in  the  end,  must  prove  a  non-intercourse, 
and,  as  a  necessary  consequence  of  that,  to  the  cultivation 
of  more  friendly  relations  with  foreigners,  who,  supplying 
our  indispensable  wants,  at  least  so  long  as  the  General  Gov- 
ernment suffers  them  to  be  supplied,  will  take  the  place  of 
our  own  countrymen,  in  our  feelings  and  affections,  leaving 
nothing  for  them  but  bitterness  and  heart-burnings.  We 
are  not  unwilling  to  give  to  our  own  countrymen  the  same 
profits  we  give  to  "foreigners,  provided  they  are  fairly 
and  constitutionally  earned.  It  is  the  forced  consumption 
of  an  article,  unconstitutionally  enhanced  in  price,  which, 
like  the  forced  consumption  of  the  tea,  we  resist.  All  things 
being  equal,  we  are  not  unwilling  to  consume  the  fabrics 
of  our  own  country,  and  so  far  to  encourage  the  fabrica- 
tors ;  but  we  protest  against  the  artificial  encouragement 
given  at  our  expense,  when  we  are  made  to  pay,  not  only 
the  tax  for  that  encouragement,  but  to  lose  the  trade  in  our 
staple,  which  affords  the  only  means  of  paying  it.  It  is 
not  to  be  expected  that  foreign  nations  will  long  continue 
to  receive  our  raw  material,  if  we  refuse  to  receive  their 
manufactures :  and  we  are  not  used  to  that  despotism  which 
would  constrain  us,  whether  for  or  against  our  interest,  to 
manufacture  for  ourselves  against  our  inclination. 

Conscientiously  believing  that  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  is  not  conducted  according  to  the  principles 
of  the  Constitution— that  powers  are  claimed  and  exercised 
by  it,  in  derogation  of  those  principles,  and  that  m  practice 
it"  is  virtually  a  consolidated  government,  and  therefore 


502  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.  XIII. 

essentially  clift'erent  from  th;r  i  and  designed  •; 

I'ormed  b     the  convention  of  "S7.  i  would  recommend  to 


you,  at  the  same  time,  to  addr  -pectful  and  affection  - 

•;:emoriai  foyour  sister  States.  requesting  them  to  unite 
with  you  in  all   constitutional  and   legitimate  measure-  to 
i~   hack  the  '  :  rineipKs  of   Mr. 

Jefferson's  administration,   which  arc  the  true  prineipl. 
the  Constitution.     It  is  a  sub;,  ucere  cdngratnlation, 

that,  notwithstanding  iMjilatioi; 

than  oth  Miain    uncorrupted    by    the    assumed 

pow--  '  the  Internal  Im- 

provement of  the  country.  Other  Stan'-  which  h;ivc 
surrendered  this  birthright.  will  lind  no  compensation  in 
the  promised  cipiiva!  principle  ha-  <-t  found 

its     value    in     the    v,    '  eioilS 

met 

A  ]     .  '  i'1-ively 

in  Internal  L  .tent,  and  will  ;>ied  into  the 

Kii^hth    Chajitcr   «>t'   rhis    w.>rk.     The   next    thirteen    ]»ara- 
graphs,  referring         •       rtof  Errors,  to  the  Penitenti 
reports  on  dci't-i-N  in  d  (.'.ule.  the   Fin  .'  the 

Stati'.    Bl  ;i-urv.    tin-    l'i:i\vr.-it\  .     Academics,    the 

faults  of  the  Militia  sy>rem,  enconra^C'inenl  of  Airriculture. 
to  Banks,  and  some  matters  of  temporary  inhv  lu-rc 

omitt 

Retiring  firom  office,  after  four 

tho  public  affairs,  it  would  h::  •,  me  pleasure  to 

jjfratulati'  you  o?i  the  safety  of  tin-  Republic,!!'  -''inijj 

condition  of  the  counu-y,  anc.  ;!,  on  the  union  and 

happiness  of  the  That   liu-    Republic  -;ifc. 

and  that  the  country  is  still   pr.'-  -.vc  are   indei 

more  to  Divine  Providence,  than  !•>  oijir  own  merits.  That 
the  strife-  il  lone  of  i»ar!y  lia  ,!  to 

distract  the  public  mind,  to  embitter  social  intercourse  and 
impair  the  energies  of  society.  •  to  the  weakness  and 

perv.  'niman    nature.     The  boisterous  -,>;!—  ion<. 

the   offspring    of    ju'litieal    di  ud  in    the    • 

flicts  of   which  reason   js  suspended,  are  not  to  be  allayed 
on   the    instant,   but   by    Him   who  can  stay    tiie   ten:' 
and  bid  the  waves  be  still.     Xo  maticv  v/hat  the  perils  — 
no  matter  Avliat  the  calamities  which  beset   the  country. 
experience  has   proven  that    in  all  countries  these    cl 
trous  passions  seek  only  a  seliish  gratification,  regardless 
of  the  public   interest.      In  our  ov.*n,  they  have  had  their 


CHAP.  XIII.]  HIS  RETIREMENT.  503 

ferocious  march,  and  their  guilty  triumphs.  Formidable  at 
the  beginning,  and  fostered  by  events,  they  liarrassed  the 
progress  of  this  administration  under  its  greatest  trials,  and 
embarrassed  its  councils  at  every  step.  It  is  well  that  little 
could  be  claimed  from  abilities  so  moderate  under  circum- 
stances so  adverse.  We  may  be  content  and  thankful,  that 
if  nothing  has  been  won,  everything  has  not  been  lost — 
that  the  exasperations  of  the  struggle  are  subsiding,  and 
that,  in  the  prospect  before  us,  there  is  nothing  so  discour- 
age or  dismay.  You  have,  therefore,  fellow-citizens,  every 
motive,  as  men,  and  every  obligation,  as  Christians,  to  banish 
discord  and  to  cultivate  peace — to  discard  the  passions 
which  become  children  more  than  men — to  separate  your- 
selves from  names,  the  best  of  which  are  comparatively 
worthless,  and  attach  yourselves  to  principles,  which  are 
unchangeable,  and  which  cannot  fail  you  in  your  utmost 
need  :  in  fine,  to  think  and  act  as  brethren  of  the  same 
family,  allied  by  a  common  interest  and  a  common  destiny, 
of  wliich  the  universal  Parent  will  be  the  guardian  and 
protector.  It  is  the  best,  as  it  is  the  last,  advice  I  can 
give  ;  and,  returning  to  private  life,  I  invoke  the  blessing 
of  God  upon  our  countrv,  and  bid  you  farewell. 

G.  M.  TROH-. 

The  inauguration  of  Governor  Forsyth  took  place  on  the 
7th  of  November.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  his 
inaugural  address: 

"The  judgment  formed  of  every  administration,  is  the 
result  of  a  comparison  with  that 'which  immediately  pre- 
ceded it.  Difficult,  indeed,  is  the  path  before  me,  when  the 
public  mind  is  occupied,  and  will  long  continue  to  be 
so,  by  the  recollection  of  the  zeal,  the  fidelity  and  the 
success  with  which  the  Government  has  been  administered 
by  my  respected  and  fortunate  predecessor.'' 

The  Georgia  Journal,  of  12th  November,  said  :  "  Few 
men  have  retired  from  office,  under  more  flattering  circum- 
stances, than  Gov.  Troup.  He  has,  certainly,  during  the 
four  years  of  his  service,  had  more  difficulties  to  contend 
with  than  any  of  his  predecessors  ever  had,  not  even  ex- 
cepting Gen.  James  Jackson.'" 

After  speaking  of  his  trials  and  his  triumphs,  it  added  : 

"  He  left  town,  on  Thursday  last,  for  his  private  residence 


;,i  14  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.   TR01  [(.'HAP.  XIII. 

in  Laurons  County.  1;  wa-  pr«  >posed  that  a  company  of  the 
young  men  of  MiUedgeville  and  the  neighboring  Counties, 
should  escort,  him  sunn.-  di-tance  from  town;  but  this  ar- 
rangement was  abandoned,  at  his  request.  Ill-  friends, 
who  were  members  of  tin-  Legislature,  and  strangers  that 
were  in  town,  of  whom  t,  re  many,  called  in  par 

at  his  lodgiii  'ing,   and  took   their 

leave.      And,    mi   Thursday  mon  •   nnmber  of 

the  citizens  of  Milledgeville  met  at  I.  e  JIall,  and 

'•eded  in  a  body  to  tire.  Jenkins',  for  the  same  purpose. 
They  were  all  received  with  kindness  and  cordiality  ;  and 
they  left  him,  expressing  their  .  •  the  separation 

which  was  about  to  take  pi  a 


Saving  visited  Savannah,  in  February.  l^S  the  com- 
pliment of  a  public  dinner  was  tendered  him.  In  soliciting 
his  acceptance,  the  <•  -ual  and 

political  friends,  - 

''  Your  fellow-citi/e 

and  peculiar  claims  upon  your  indulgeii'-  .  r  public 

career  commenced  among  them:          .  ••ontinu- 

ance,  ha-  let  with  their  warm  and   uwmaliiied  ap- 

probution." 

From  his  letter,  dated  <Hh    l-'ebruary.  deciiir  :nvi- 

tation,  the  following  extract  i-  made  : 

"On  each  occa>i<>n  «•}'  revisiting  your  city,  in  which  I 
had  been  reared  from  earliest  infancy,  I  have  felt  myself 
at  home  ;  and  it  would  have  been  most  gratifying  to  me,  if 
it  had  seemed  most  appropriate  to  you,  to  have  been  treat- 
ed rather  as  a  friend,  which  I  am,  than  as  a  public  man, 
which  I  am  not  H^rii  to  many  sorrows,  I  have  sought  con- 
solation here,  ui:  j  afflictive  dispensation,  and  have 

found  it  in  warm  and  generous  b  i  which  the  most 

delicate  sensibilities  have  been  united  to  the  mo^t  manly 
virtues.  You  must  feel,  therefore,  how  reluctant  L  have 
been  in  failing  to  receive  your  v.  :  nand-.  The 

approbation  of  my  public  conduct  i>  of  the  highest  value 
to  me,  because  i;  conviction  that  that  conduct 

lias  been  right.  "': 


The  Georgian  niMi-il :     ••  It  v  ill  I •  •  >r,-n  11  :,m  i: 

1  "1.  Trotip  has  declined  the  mark  of  res;  liini   I>y   hi>  fclluw -citi/cii^.     It   wmilil 

havii  )••  i'l'oni    UK.'  sn'  r.   tor  innn.v 


CHAP.  XIIL]  ELECTION  TO  U.   S.   SENATE.  505 

One  year  after  his  retirement  from  the  Executive  office, 
Gov.  Troup  was,  without  solicitation  on  his  part,  elected 
to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States,  for  the  full  term  to 
commence  on  the  4th  of  March,  1829.  His  election  oc- 
curred on  the  5th  of  November,  1828,  and  witJwut  opposi- 
tion. Out  of  183  votes  cast,  he  received  every  vote  but 
15 ;  and  was,  consequently,  elected  by  a  majority  of  168 — 
a  thing  believed  to  be  unprecedented  in  the  history  of 
Georgia.  In  the  sketch  of  Gov.  Troup,  in  White's  Statistics 
of  Georgia,  it  is  said  : 

"  This  appointment  was  accepted  by  him  with  unfeigned 
regret.  Ill  health  and  other  circumstances  had  determined 
him  to  live  in  domestic  seclusion.  It  is  not  generally 
known,  that,  when  apprised  of  the  Legislative  intention  to 
send  him  to  Washington,  he,  to  prevent  it,  hastened  from 
his  home  in  Laurens,  to  Milledgeville,  where  he  arrived 
only  a  few  hours  after  his  election." 

The  term  for  which  Gov.  Troup  had  been  elected  to  the 
Senate,  was  to  begin  on  4th  March,  1829  ;  but  he  was  un- 
able to  attend  the  Executive  session  then  held.  On  22d 
January,  1829,  he  wrote  to  a  friend : 

':  Letters  received  from  Washington,  express  a  wish  that 
I  would  be  present  there  on  the  4th  of  March  ;  and  I  may 
attempt  it,  at  the  risk  of  failure.  I  am  very 

sick  of  politics  and  of  public  men,  even  more  so  than  in 
body,  which  has  had  and  still  has  sickness  enough  to  com- 
plain of ;  but  I  will  do  anything  I  can  to  the  contribution 
for  the  public  interest,  so  long  as  there  is  a  prospect  of 
serving  it.*' 

In  another  letter,  of  27th  March,  to  the  same  friend, 
dated  at  Darieu,  after  referring  again  to  his  health,  &c.,  he 
said,  in  reference  to  the  inaugural  address  of  the  new 
President : 

"  I  like  Gen.  Jackson's  prologue,  much,  and  will  like  it 
still  better,  if  time  shall  prove  the  plain-dealing  and  honest 
sincerity  of  the  author,"  &c.,  &c. 

Again,  on  the  8th  of  June,  lie  wrote,  from  Laurens : 

"  I  have   postponed   writing,   that  I  might  be  able   to 
give   you   a  favorable   account  of  my  health.     Hope  is 
yet  deferred  ;  and  I  can  only  say,  in  this  respect,  that  a 
64 


506  UFK  «>F  GEOR«;K  M.  TROUP.  [CHAI-.  xm. 

teasing  cough  hara-se-,  without  apparently  wearing  me 
away:  an<l.  u'th  does  not  decline,  I  flatter 

myself,  or   [•.  rha  .'.atteis  me,  that  my  lungs 

are  still  whole.  *     The  summer  will  deride 

my  late:  an  .nnot  in:  'if  useful  at  "Washing- 

ton, 1  will  not  go  th<- 

On  the  loth  August,  writing  from  Milledgeville,  lie  said  : 

••  VL\    r  '.igh,    without    being    worse,  harasses  me,   and, 
although  tea!  i  not  proved  enfeeblii 

The  following,  to  tin-  same  friend,  deserves  a  place  1 
as  giving,  not  only  an  account  of  his  health,  hut  his  views 
on  Kducation. 

th  August,  1  • 

My  Dear  Friend :  .otalitth  \  ing  and 

embarrassing  to  me.  It  may  he  ail'eetion  of  the  lungs,  or 
liver,  or  both,  or  neither.  1  am  too  little  versed  in  your 
science,  to  trust  myself  with  a  conjecture.  The  cough  and 
expectorations  proceed  :  as  to  the  former,  I  cannot  say 
there  is  any  thing  fixed  or  settled  about  it;  indeed,  if  gives 
me  no  trouble  or  UP  .  compared  with  the  hawking 

and  spitting,  or  disci.;  phlegm,  (vi.-cid.i  which  1,< 

my  throat  almost  alv  •.     The   cough   gives   M: 

trouble,  at  night,  and  sometimes  is  of  rare  occurreiv 
the  day;   the  other   proceeds  quite  independently    of  it. 
They  are  such  symptoms  which  induce  me  to  hel; 
may  be  right,  when  you  suppose  it  a  gastric  aiiection.  and 
not  of  the  lungs,     i  am  taking  your  remedy. 

Schemes  of  Education  have  been  multiplying  for  the 
last  twenty  years,  in  every  part,  of  the  civilized  world, 
without  public  opinion  having  rested  on  any  one  of  them 
for  a  longer  time  than  its  novelty  lasted.  I  have  not  much 
faith  that  our  inventive  faculties  in  this  respect  will  enable 
us  to  make  wiser  men  than  the  Greeks  and  llomans.  al- 
though our  Christian  system  may  make  better  ones.  Cer- 
tainly, any  contrivance  which  can  make  a  school-room  more 
captivating  to  a  child,  than  a  prison-house,  must  have  its 
value  ;  and,  no  doubt,  the  plan  of  the  Infant  Schools  is  the 
best  which  can  be  devised.  It  requires  but  little  experi- 
ence to  determine  its  advantages,  and  the  test  is  ah 
unerring. 

It  lias  never  been  .  1  that  one  nation  had  acquired 

a  decided  superiority  over  another,  in  intellectual  endow- 
ment, all  else  being  equal,  by  iijji.ri//. ('<//•  ,,«>i/<  of  training 
tin;  human  mind.  I  Undoubtedly,  there  are  some  mod. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  ATTENDANCE  AT  WASHINGTON.  597 

communicating  knowledge,  which  have  preference  over 
others  ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  believe  that  at  this  time  of  day 
the  modes  are  susceptible  of  much  improvement.  More 
cannot  be  communicated  than  is  known ;  and  I  am  much 
inclined  to  think  that  as  much  can  be  communicated,  either 
by  the  ancient  or  modern  modes,  as  the  mind  can  receive. 
Well  organized  and  disciplined  Schools,  with  good  instruct- 
ors, have  at  all  times  been  able  to  accomplish  this.  True, 
some  are  sanguine  enough  to  think  the  mind  can  be  made 
to  master  every  department  of  human  learning,  when  that 
learning  shall  have  reached  its  highest  perfection  ;  but  we 
remain  without  the  proof.  It  is  probable  that  no  mind 
ever  acquired  more  of  what  is  called  knowledge,  than  that 
of  Aristotle,  and  it  was  probably  far  short  of  even  the 
useful  knowledge  of  his  time.  Pray  excuse  a  treatise  on 
Education.  *  *  '-  •'•'•  '::'  '•''  '••  '••  *  '"'  -:'  -•  #  * 
Affectionately  yours, 

G.  M.  TEOUP. 
Dr.  Daniell. 


On  the  25th  November,  he  wrote,  from  Washington  : 
"  I  arrived  safely,  yesterday,  and  in  as  good  condition  as 
could  have  been  expected.  The  route  by  Norfolk  gave  us 
some  rest,  and  we  lost  no  time  —  the  Steamboat  making  up 
for  the  tardiness  of  the  Stage.  The  members  assembled 
early  and  in  great  number,  as  if  something  unusual  were 
anticipated,  and  yet  I  hear  nothing  that  can  cause  curiosity 
or  anxiety.  On  Indian  affairs  and  Internal  Improvement, 
the  President  will  do  as  we  desire,"  &c.,  &c. 

"  Pennsylvania  will,  no  doubt,  fill  the  vacancy  on  the 
Supreme  Bench.  I  am  very  anxious  to  get  Mr.  Cheves  ; 
but  the  prospect  is  far  from  flattering.  The  wishes  of  the 
State  are  to  be  consulted,  and  the  State  will  probably  not 
discover  Pennsylvanianism  enough  in  Mr.  C.  to  recommend 
him.  They  speak  of  Binney,  and  Gibson,  and  Baldwin.""-' 


He  took  his  seat  in  the  Senate,  on  7th  December, 
and,  on  the  9th,  was  appointed  third  on  the  Military  Com- 
mittee, and  second  on  the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs. 
The  state  of  his  health  was  such,  during  a  great  part  of  the 
time  he  continued  in  the  Senate,  as  to  unfit  him  for  debate. 


*  lion.  Henry  Baldwin  was  afterwards  appointed  to  lill  this    vacancy,  created   by  Judgo 
Washington's  death. — ED. 


508  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.   TROUP.  |  CHAP.  XIII. 

It  was  probably  on  leaving  Georgia  to  take  his  pin- 
the  session  of  1829 — '30,  that  he  expres-ed  a  doubt  whether 
he  would  ever  return  from  Washington.     On  ^Ist  Deeem- 
ber,  he  wrote  : 

"I  can  give  you  no  better  account  of  my  health,  than 
to  say  it  continue-:  very  much  as  when  T  left  you,  with  the 
exception  of  increase  of  cough — being  mure  troublesome 
by  night  as  well  as  b  We  can 

accomplish  nothing  i'ur  Southern  interests,  here,  unless  per- 
haps the  removal  of  the  Indians  ;  and  this,  if  accomplished, 
will  be  done  reluctantly  and  ungraciously:  or,  m<>rr  pro- 
perly, will  be  permitted  only  because  it  cannot  but  be 
vainly  forbidden.  [  speak  of  the  Congress:  not  of  the 
Executive,  who  is  sincerely  with  IH." 

On  8th  January.  ]*•:',".  lie  again  wn 

"  I  will  leave  this,  for  Ath<     .  possible,     if 

mv  health  permit,  will  return  to  my  duties  immediately: 
otherwise,  will  resign,  when  I  may  h 
than  we  once  expected." 

Again,  on  4th  March,  he  wrote,  from  Washington  : 

"Having  resol\  1  advised  you,  because  of 

the  uncertainty  of  my  being  able,  to  return  in  time  for  any 
useful  purpose,  I  wrote  to  our  friend   15., 
take  my  place.     The  idea  was,  if  the  co:  ml   diffi- 

culty could  be  removed,  to  prevail  on  the  Governor  to  send 
the  commission,  forthwith;  but  he  thought,  and  perhaps 
correctly,  that  a  previous  resignation  would  be  neces- 
which  would  have  consumed  too  much  time  for  our  object. 
So  many  things  occupy  me,  that  I  must  hasten  to  beg  my 
affectionate  remembrance  to  the  family,"  <.Vc.,  eoc. 

And.  on  20th  March,  he  wrote  : 

"Those  [members  of  Congressj  who  are  most  unprin- 
cipled, form  an  alliance  to  cheat  the  more  scrupulous  ;  and 
they  are  always  a  strong  majority.  The  constitution  stand  ; 
in  the  way  of  nobody,  and  is  never  spoken  of  with  any 
gravity,  except  in  the  way  of  a  rhetorical  flourish.  A  very 
common  argument  is  held,  that  if  the  honest  do  not  turn 
rogues,  presently,  the  plunder  will  be  all  gone :  and  it  is 
not  difficult  to  see  ho\v  the  argument  works.  Our  Indian 
affairs  are  likely  to  go  well.  ••  Pray  re- 

*  Judge  Berrien,  probably,  who  was  then  A  •  ;  il   1.1"  ill"    I.    .-.     Mr.    Korsytli 

was  at  this  time  the  colleague  of  i  <  Mi.  llrniri, 

whnn  tli'!  l:itt"r  cnti-ro.!  tli.-Caliiti"!.— Ki>. 


CHAP,  xni.]  JEFFERSON'S  BIRTH-DAY. 


509 


member  me  affectionately  to  Mrs.  D.  and  the  boys.  Tell 
the  latter  that  I  always  think  of  them,  and  do  not  despair 
of  seeing  them  once  more." 

Whilst,  however,  Gov.  Troup  was  unable  to  take  part 
in  debate,  he  was  not  inattentive  to  the  duties  of  his  sta- 
tion. Probably,  a  slight  improvement  in  his  health,  and 
the  unwillingness  of  his  friends  for  his  retirement,  induced 
him  to  continue  in  the  Senate.  During  all  this  time,  and 
until  his  final  retirement  from  public  life,  in  1833,  it  is 
confidently  believed  that  the  record  of  his  votes,  in  the 
Senate,  may  safely  be  challenged  to  show  any  departure 
from  the  simplicity  and  honesty  of  his  Republican  faith, 
and  those  State  Eights  principles,  which  never  forsook  him 
in  the  most  trying  times.  Although  physically  too  weak 
to  attempt  a  speech,  his  name  was  a  tower  of  "strength  to 
his  political  friends.  This  will  be  shown  by  what  follows. 

The  13th  day  of  April,  1830,  the  anniversary  of  the 
birth-day  of  Thomas  Jefferson,  was  celebrated  at  "Washing- 
ton City,  with  great  eclat.  Hon.  John  Roane,  of  Virginia, 
presided,  assisted  by  six  Vice-Presidents.  South  Carolina 
having  been  toasted,  Gen.  Hayue  responded  to  the  senti- 
ment, and,  amongst  other  things,  said  : 

"  On  a  more  recent  occasion,  GEORGIA,  (in  every  sense, 
our  sister J)  under  the  guidance  of  one  of  the  noblest  of 
her  distinguished  sons,  planted  upon  her  borders  the  stand- 
ard of  STATE  RIGHTS,  and  achieved  a  great  and  a  glorious 
victory  for  the  good  cause.  Neither  denunciations  nor 
threats  could  induce  her  enlightened  and  patriotic  Chief 
Magistrate  to  recede  from  the  proud  stand  he  had  taken  in 
defence  of  the  constitutional  rights  committed  to  his  charge. 
Public  opinion  was  rallied  to  his  support,  liberty  triumphed, 
and  the  Constitution  was  saved." 

He  concluded  with  offering  the  following  sentiment : 

i;  The  State  of  Georgia — By  the  firmness  and  energy  of 
her  Troups,  she  has  achieved  one  great  victory  for  & 
rights  ;  the  wisdom  and  eloquence  of  her  sons  will  secure 
her  another  proud  triumph  in  the  councils  of  the  Nation." 

Hon.   James  M.   Wayne,  then  a  Representative   from 


510  MFK  OF  «  '    TBOUP  [('HAP.  XIII. 


:ment,  in  a  ^peech. 
which  want  of  space-    forbids  the  making  of  extracts. 

Speaking  "f  the  stand  which   (-ieorgia   liad  taken,   even 
"when  menaced'  with  military  coon-ion,"  Arc.,  lie  said: 

"Our   apj  hoard  by  otir  brethren  :  the  State  tri- 

umphed :  ire  now  fully 

acknowledged,  and  the  ch  in  to  the 

timenta  of  the  gentleman  from  South  Carolina,  ;; 

that'  relations   with  the  <ieiieral< 

eminent,  stand-;  vindicated  a:  \v  the  r> 

ative  deinocraey  of  the  1  'n:on." 

Governor  Troiip  gave  the  followin 
sion  : 

"  ;  -With  i. 

liinii  rs  than  '  ;l»li<-  of  |  ino,   it  rules 

an  Kmpire  i:.  :ided  than  t!ie   Roman,  with  the  ;. 

luteness  of  Tiberius,  with  less  wi>dom  than  Augustus,  and 
:!istice  than  Trajan  or  the  Anton  i 

During  the  se~-ioM  of   !^i".»  -*80,  (iov.  T.  ner- 

ally  at  h:  -id  always  v».ted  as  became,  the  principles 

of  his  whole  life.  It  was  during  this  session  that  the  cele- 
brated debate,  on  F<  ••Intion,  occurred,  in  which 

General  Jlayne  and  >[r.  v  ,:ly  distinpi- 

them  -eb 

This  session   terminated  on  uve 

abundant  evidence  that  his  health  continued  poor.  During 
the  recess,  he  was  invited  to  a  public  meeting  and  dinner, 
by  the  friends  of  -  '  >lumbia,  South  Carolina. 

In  declining  the  invitation,  he  v,  follows: 

LACRKNS  ('•  .  :  •,.       / 

September  L'lst.  ls:H>.  \ 

:itlomen:  Accept  my  thanks  for  your  ]>olite  invita- 
tion to  a  public  meeting  and  dinner  at  Columbia,  directed 
to  Milledgeville.  Whether  with  you  on  that  interesting 
-ion,  or  not,  you  have  my  best  wishes  for  the  results  of 
the  wise  counsels  and  patriotic  efforts  which  yon  cannot 
fail  to  carry  to  the  discussion  of  tiie  topics.  if  tiie  day  :  they 
are  of  lirst  importance  to  the  whole  Tnion. 

Whatever  the  peoph-  ..f  South  Carolina,  in   convention. 
shall  resolve  for  their  and  liappiness,  will 

be  right,  and  none  will  have  the  right  to  question  it.      You 


CHAP.   XIII.]  COLUMBIA  LETTER. 

can  change  your  own  government  at  pleasure  ;  and,  there- 
fore, you  can  throw  off  the  government  of  the  Union, 
whenever  the  same  safety,  interest  and  happiness  require 
it.  If  ambition  and  avarice  shall  make  of  the  Federal 
Government  a  curse,  and  the  States  are  to  be  held  to  it 
against  their  will,  our  condition  differs  in  nothing  from  that 
of  the  Province  of  Turkey  or  Persia.  The  many-headed 
tyrant,  in  the  habitual  violation  of  the  Constitution,  vaunts 
his  love  of  Union,  as  if  ready  to  make  a  burnt-offering  of 
his  looms  and  spindles  upon  the  altar  of  that  Union — yet, 
not  one  jot  of  concession  is  made  to  the  prayers  and  en- 
treaties, which,  if  offered  to  the  throne  of  Grace,  would  be 
received  graciously  and  answered  favorably.  The  cormo- 
rant who  fastens  and  fattens  on  onr  substance,  may  not  re- 
lease his  hold,  so  long  as  we  are  the  willing  subject  of  its 
remorseless  passion.  But  I  do  not  utterly  despair — the 
American  people  will  see  that  the  Constitution  and  Union 
can  only  be  preserved  by  a  return  to  honesty  and  justice. 
It  is  impossible  we  can  be  wrong — ours  is  the  cause  of 
liberty — of  freedom  of  industry — of  the  use  of  the  fac- 
ulties of  mind  and  body  for  all  purposes,  merely  innocent, 
without  governmental  interference ;  opposed  to  restraints 
and  prohibitions  and  monopolies  in  every  form.  If,  con- 
trary to  expectation,  the  existing  system  shall  become  the 
fixed  and  settled  policy  of  the  country,  the  Southern  States 
must  withdraw  from  the  confederacy,  cost  what  it  may. 
Xo  evil  is  more  to  be  dreaded  than  a  power  in  the  General 
Government  to  regulate  industry — a  power  which  can- 
not with  safety  be  confided  to  any  government,  but  with 
the  most  guarded  limitations.  Direct  taxes  for  the  en- 
couragement of  manufactures,  would  not  have  been  paid 
for  a  single  year.  The  five  cents  a  yard  on  our  cotton  bag- 
ging, levied  for  the  professed  purpose  of  enabling  the  West- 
ern States  to  supply  the  article  on  their  own  terms,  when 
the  proceeds  were"  to  make  roads  and  canals  for  the  same 
States,  would  have  been  opposed  with  a  spirit  not  easily 
allayed.  They  have  been  borne,  only,  because  being  indi- 
rect, they  arc 'unseen  ;  and  because  a  portion  of  the  _evil 
may  be  avoided  by  the  non-consumption  of  those  articles 
which  are  not  of  first  necessity.  There  cannot  be  a  greater 
fallacy  than  that  the  Union  is 'to  be  preserved  by  a  power 
in  the  General  Government  to  coerce  the  States.  The  exist- 
ence of  sovereignty  excludes  the  idea  of  force.  Ours  is  a 
Government  of  opinion,  of  consent,  of  voluntary  associa- 
tion—the only  guaranty  for  Union  is  justice.  Justice 
secures  good  feeling,  fidelity,  affection  ;  and  nothing  but 


512  MM  OF  GEORGE  M.  TR<HT.  |('H.\P.  XIII. 

justice  can  secure  t IK-HI,  of  what  value  is  tliat  Union 
which  is  formed  of  unwilling  and  reluctant  members,  who. 
but  for  the  >  \\-ord  Mispended  over  their  heads,  would  fly  oft' 
from  the  common  centre  wliicli  burns  only  to  de-troy  { 

The  Constitution,  administered  according  to  its  letter 
and  spirit,  can  dispense  nothing  but  justice  ;  and  the  char- 
acter of  the  American  p'  .aaranty  tliat 
no  State  would  s  run  the  Union  without  justifiable 
cause.  Regarding  the,  Uni<>  .  the 
members  oi'  which  can  only  bo  ke}>t  together  l>y  the  prac- 
tice of  strict  and  impartial  justice.,  it  '.  'ii.-tt  the  non- 
contents  and  the  mal  -  should  i  :vd  to  depart 
in  peace  by  common  consent,  than  by  common  consent  to 
constrain  a  reluctant  -e,  which,  it'  yielded  to-day, 
may  he  forcibly  withdrawn  to-morrov  .  ;he  shedding 
of  blood  which  deters  us  from  constitutional  resistance  to 
unconstitutional  laws,  and  which  ought  to  be  postponed  80 
long  a<  the  faintest,  hope  remains  of  a  returning  sense  of 
justice.  You  well  know  how  the  same  infatuation  is  con- 
stantly pursuing  an  interest  intinitely  i  red;  the 
unhallowed  touch  of  which  we  would  be  bound  in  honor 
to  resist,  and  with  a  vengeance  never  to  be  appeased.  .But 
pardon  so  much  on  ti.  .  and  accept  the 
tender  of  m\ 

G.  M.  TBOTJP. 

OnGth  October,  he  wrote  to  his  friend.  Dr.  Daniell,  then 
a  member  of  the  ( Jeorgia  Senate  : 

"I  cannot  ride  on  horseback,  without  suffering  much  in- 
convenience; the  carriage  is  sufficiently  irritating.  Since 
my  last,  my  condition  is  better. 

>%  With  regard  to  the  Cherokee-,  1  would  >ay,  enforce  the 
laws  strictly — set  the  Supreme  Court  at  defiance,  and 
occupy  the  country.  The  hist,  can  either  be 

worked  by  the  State,  or  sold,  or  k-a-ed.  Make  it  a  high 
crime  and  misdemeanor,  (treason,  if  you  please.)  for  any 
person  in.,  matter  who,)  within  the  jurisdictional  limits  of 
the  State,  (the  chartered  limits,)  to  issue  or  serve  any 
judicial  process,  which  shall,  directly  or  indirectly,  call  in 

*  On  the  ICtli   • 

•^i.i  disapprove  ..f  ;'  .  ^inim.-,   of  Hi--    il". 

.  in  his  toa^t  nt  the  .1  :.-ition  dinner,  in  Washington  City,   and 

in  hi*  lotti-r  replying  to  an  invitation  in  the  O'lnnibia  dinn 

The  resolution  \v;l,  iu:mi;di:it-ly  lai.l  ,,:  ,r  thn  rr-maind-r  of  the  .s..-^i.m,  hj 

•ys31.— i;n. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  LETTERS  FROM   WASHINGTON. 

question  the  sovereign  jurisdictional  or  territorial  rights  of 
the  State.  This  system,  enforced  as  it  ought  to  be,  will 
soon  move  the  Cherokees.  They  rely  on  their  Northern 
friends ;  and,  as  soon  as  they  see  that  to  be  a  broken  staff, 
they  will  surrender." 

He  wrote,  again,  on  2d  November  : 

_"  The  state  of  things  at  Milledgeville,  from  time  to  time, 
will  be  very  acceptable.  The  majority  against  you,  in  the 
Senate,  is  stronger  than  I  anticipated.  The  horizon  is  not 
very  clear,  either  at  home  or  abroad ;  and  I  fear  poor 
human  nature  will  work  its  own  ruin  at  last.  '-"  '::~  ~::"  '•'•' 

Suffer  much  pain,  at  in- 
tervals, and  do  not  know  if  I  can  accomplish  the  journey." 

Governor  Troup  attended  the  session  of  1830-31.  Writ- 
ing, from  Washington,  on  18th  December,  after  referring 
to  the  action  of  the  Legislature  of  Georgia  in  regard  to  the 
Cherokee  lands,  &c.,  he  said : 

"  The  poor  University  has  met  the  fate*  anticipated,  and 
will  never  recover  so  long  as  party  and  bigotry  have  any 
thing  to  do  with  it.  *  '"•  ''•'  ''•'•'  "::"  "::"  I  do  not  look  for 
any  modification  of  the  Tariff  which  would  give  us  gratifi- 
cation. If  any  happen,  it  will  be  in  furtherance  of  the 
system.  We  begin  to  rely  somewhat  upon  a  salutary 
change  in  public  opinion,  of  which  there  are  some  signs." 

On  4th  January,  1831,  in  another  letter,  after  referring 
to  the  resolutions  of  the  Legislature  of  Georgia,  requesting 
and  enjoining  the  Governor  and  other  officers  of  the  State, 
to  disregard  the  citation,  &c.,  of  the  Chief  Justice  of  the 
U.  S.  Supreme  Court,  in  the  case  of  the  Indian  Tassels, 
who  had  been  convicted  of  murder  before  the  Superior 
Court  of  Hall  county,  &c.,  &c.,  he  said  : 

"The  result  has  been  hailed  by  our  political  iViends  here, 
as  a  signal  triumph,  although  it  may  be  but  the  onset.  It 
is  not  believed  they  will  venture  to  proceed  in  the  con- 
tempt." 

In  another  letter,  written  on  31st  January,  he  said  : 

"The  relations  of  public  men  here  are  worse  than  this 
time  last  year,  and  as  bad  as  they  can  be.  The  President 
is  almost  the  only  man  who  has  maintained  his  position  as 
it  was,"  &c.,  &c. 

*  It  is  proper  to  add,  that,  three  days  after  the  date  of  this  letter,  an  Act  was  passed 
«  to  pro-vide  a  permanent  additional  fund  for  tho  support  of :I  the  University,  &c.,  4c.— i;i>. 


514  I<TFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROUP.  [CHAP.    XIII. 

Speaking  of  the  protective  lie  said,  in  a  letter 

dated  llth  May  : 

"The  danger  i  :ue  imminent,  hecai.  evi- 

dent, for  the  fir.-t  time,  that  tlie  entire  capital  and  popula- 
tion of  New  Fnirland  and  other  interested  States,  arc 
embodying  ;••!•  tin-  permanency  <>\'  the  system:  and,  if 
not  i  \ve  nui-1  rthrown.  h<"  /nd  dra- 

goo: 

Thi-  r-hort    session,    not    much    of  a  ^en 

nature  wa-   done    in  .:ip  vote' 

I'd    February,    i;         .  .  -   introdi; 

•hat  the  charter  of  the  IJank  of  the    I'nited 
States  ought  not  to  lx  BOB  adjourned  on 

March. 

Meanwhile,    tlie    health    i.f  (Governor   Troup  continued 
feeble.     He  was  aide.    !  .   t,.  attend  li  n  of 

1831-32.     On   21st  Januarv.   1^:1:.',    lie  wrote  to  Dr.  ' 
iell  : 

"  PubK  j-innin^  to  occupy  ni' 

tlie  attention  •.  Imdy  here,  as  it  5-  seen  in  how  much 

uncertainty  I  d.     The    present   pi 

very  gloomy,  and  w<-  can  only  indulge  the  hope  that 
events  may  transpire  to  favor  tin  ''e-irai)].-  results. 

The  Tariff  party   will  attempt  to  reconcile  t  iiern 

people,    by  some  trilling  concession  ;  which,  if  it  should 
succeed,  will  rivet  the  system  upon  us.     Our  friends 
so  fa  decided,  and  will  not  he  content  with  anything 

;   of  justice  and  equality.      For  the  Bank,  there   i 
doubt  a  majority  in  both   Jloii<es,  but  not  two-thirds;  and 
the  better  opinion  is  that  two-thirds  will  be  required." 

The  following  extract  from  a  letter,  to  the  same  friend. 
dated  30th  11  ::,  will  show  why  '  r  Troup  took 

no  part  in  deba 

"  I  would  very  gladly  have  availcdam  our  friendly 

•c-tion,  and  for  the  reason  assigned,  if  it  had  been  pos- 
.  Frequent- occasions  hare  occurred,  making  it  very 
fit  and  proper,  perhaps  even  n-eful,  that  my  own  opinion- 
should  have  been  ex;  out  every  essay  of  that  kind 
would  prove  BO  di-i  res.-ing  to  myself  and  others,  that  it 
would  be  quite  unwarrantable  to  attempt  it.  The  '. 
effort,  in  this  May,  is  followed  by  a  fit  of  coughing  which  is 
not  easily  allayed,  and  which,  even  in  ordinary  c<inv, 


CHAP.  XIII.]  VIEWS  ON  THE  TARIFF.  515 

tion,  has  more  than  once  produced  a  spitting  of  blood.  The 
effects,  in  relation  to  myself,  would  be  of  no  consequence, 
if  the  object  of  the  effort,  on  any  profitable  occasion,  could 
be  attained  ;  but  I  know  this  to  be  physically  impossible." 

Of  the  tariff,  he  wrote,  on  2d  July : 

"  The  bill  from  the  House  of  Representatives,  which  is 
likely  to  pass  the  Senate,  is  essentially  a  bill  for  the  fur- 
ther relief  of  the  manufacturers,  who  will  be  exempted,  in 
a  great  degree,  from  the  only  burthens  to  which  they  had 
been  subjected  under  the  old  system."-'" 

This  was  an  exceedingly  important  session  of  Congress, 
the  Bank  and  Tariff  questions  being  the  leading  ones.  It 
has  been  already  stated,  in  a  note  to  a  previous  chapter, 
that  Governor  Troup  voted  to  sustain  the  President  in  his 
veto  of  the  bill  to  re-charter  the  Bank  of  the  United  States, 
having  previously  voted  against  the  bill  itself.  At  this 
period,  he  was  a  cordial  supporter  of  Gen.  Jackson's  ad- 
ministration ;  as  may  be  seen  by  the  following  extracts  from 
a  private  letter,  written  after  the  adjournment  of  Congress, 
and  dated  29th  August,  1832  : 

"Bad  health  carried  me  to  the  Virginia  Springs,  where, 
having  acquired  sufficient  strength,  we  took  the  road  by 
the  higher  country,  direct  for  Athens,  whence,  (having  first 
entered  George  of  the  Sophomore  Class,  and  left  his  sisters 
with  him,  all  in  good  health,)  I  proceeded  homeward, 
where  I  arrived,  ten  days  since,  not  much  worse  than  I  left 
the  Springs. 

"  Have  desired  much  to  see  you.  Every  thing,  polit- 
ically, is  working  badly  for  us,  as  you  may  perceive _;  and, 
amidst  all  the  diversity  of  opinions,  no  rallying  point,  or 
principle  of  union,  presents,  by  which  the  disorder  may  be 
corrected.  "::-  '-  ~::~  *  The  cause  of  nullification  is  so 
generally  connected  with  hostility  to  the  President,  that, 
even  if  it  were  more  tenable,  it  would  expose  to  jealousy  any 
politician  in  Georgia  who  would  seem  to  favor  it.  General 
Jackson  deserves  to  be  supported  most  liberally  by  every 
Georgian,  and  indeed  by  every  Republican,  Ho  man 
would  have  hazarded  more  for  correct  principles."1 


*  The  bill  was  passed  substantially  as  it  came  from  the  House,  but,  of  course,  against  the 
vote  of  Governor  Troup.    It  was  entitled  '•  An  Act  to  alter  and  amend  the  several  Acts  laying 
duties  on  imports/'  and  was  approved  by  the  President,  on  14th  July,  1835 
the  Acts  embraced  within  tho  provisions  of  the  South   Carolina  Ordinance  of  Nullification  of 
24th  November,  1832.— EP. 


r,1f,  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.  TROFP.  [CiiAP.  XIII. 

[1832.]    C  •e^aiseinbled  on  3d  December,     (lov. 

Troup  was placed  second  on  the  Military  Committee  ol'  the 
Senate,  and  was  made  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  In- 
dian Affairs. 

On  the  10th  December,  the  President  i>sue<l  liis  celebrated 
Proclamation,  having  reference  to  the  nulliiiration  measures 
of  South  Carolina  ;  the  party  divi  -n  which,  belong 

to  the  general  history  of  the  country. 

The  following  letter  fr<  .inds  its  appn- 

priatc  place  here : 

W  i  Fan'y,  1  - 

My  Dear  Friend:     Within  ;  .  'Merc;  has  been   .-• 

iderable  abatem*  \citement,  and  the  Kxecutivi- 

tone  has  moderated.    It  is  no\\-  ascertained  that  force  will 

not  be  resorted  to,  bn;  .  ,;nd  that  regulars  \vill 

not  be  employed  against  citix 

The  apprehension  of  civil  war,  which  a  lime 

§eneral,  has  :ired  before  the  prmml^ation  of  the 

tate  law,  which  low  the  merchant  to  --ive  and 

pay  his  bond.     It  now  be-  .id,  that,  .  •  dy. 

nullification  has  tailed  ;    and  the  mamifactur.  i   to 

think   that   reduction   m:  •-oiu-.d.      On    this 

question,  the  Senate  i  i-mbtlul  than  the   li- 

In  consequence  of  the  repeated  surest  ions  (.t'  you 
and  others,  as  well  as  of  a  late  Me  and  ill-timed 

State  paper,  I  have  given  my  views  and  opinions  generally. 
As  Major  Moore,  of  Oglethorpe.  a  very  worthy  patriot. 
was  most  pr  "laudatory,  I  have  given  them  to 

him,  and  in  a  very  familiar,  homespun  way.     They  will, 
of  course,  meet  the  reception  and  treatment  whi 
thing,  of  like  kind,  emanating  from   myself,  has   in   past 
time,   and  perhaps  with  very   little   favor  from  any  quar- 
ter.    *     ":>     *     "::-     •'•' 

Affectionately, 

<i.  M.  THOI-I-. 
Dr.  W.  C.  Daniell. 


*    On  tin'  It'ith  of  .Taiu'.ary.  ^Ir.  K> 
withstanding  fhe  thraatanl  .    Th1' 

f'liicf  v 

I'mni  t-'diitli  Carulinn  t"lls  in   that  Sninli  ('•in'1in:i  1- 

The  hope  mlgbt  be  indulged  that  nil  t). 

would  not  In-  nsod." — 1>. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  LETTERS  ON  STATE  RIGHTS.  517 

The  "  State  paper,"  to  which  reference  is  made  above, 
was  the  proclamation  of  the  President.  The  letter  to 
Major  Moore,  to  which  reference  is  also  made  above,  will 
be  found  in  the  Appendix  to  this  volume.  On  the  10th  of 
February,  Governor  Troup  wrote  his  celebrated  letter  to 
Major  John  H.  Howard,  which  is  also  to  be  found  in  the 
Appendix.""'  Had  he  written  nothing  else,  this  letter 
would  suffice  to  place  him  amongst  the  foremost  men  of 
the  country.  By  the  last  of  these  letters,  it  will  be  seen 
that  he  was  not  an  admirer  of  nullification  as  adopted  by 
South  Carolina,  under  the  actual  circumstances  of  the 
case,  and  for  the  reasons  stated  by  himself.  Believing,  as 
he  did,  in  the  absolute  and  undivided  sovereignty  of  each 
State,  and  that  Carolina  had  a  right  to  do  as  she  did,  he 
still  thought  she  should  have  acted  in  concert  with  other 
States  having  identical  interests.  On  20th  February,  he 
wrote  to  Dr.  Daniell : 

"  I  am  much  gratified  that  the  letter  to  Moore  gave  you 
pleasure.  It  does  not  appear  to  have  been  received  as  well 
elsewhere.  I  see  it  excepted  to  by  '  BIBB,'  in  the  last 
Recorder,  who  I  take  to  be  our  excellent  friend,  ::~  "::" 
"::"  ""'  ~::"  •-  .  It  is  in  this  way  that  our  cause  is  made 
hopeless.  You  must  fall  in  with  the  whim-whams  and 
crudities  and  conceits  of  every  politician  on  one  side,  or 
you  accomplish  nothing  for  union.  This  sensitiveness  is  a 
prominent  characteristic  of  nullification.  It  has  its  seat  in 
the  front  of  the  cranium,  and  the  subject  of  this  infirmity 
reminds  you  of  one  in  a  fit  of  the  gout,  who  is  in  dread 
of  every  thing  that  approaches  his  toes." 

During  the  session  of  1832-33,  Gov.  Troup  was  frequently 
absent,  from  severe  indisposition.  A  more  excited  session 
never  was  held  since  the  adoption  of  the  Federal  Constitution. 
The  principles  of  the  Government  were  sifted  to  their  founda- 
tion, in  the  debates  on  the  proclamation  and  the  measures 
introduced  to  meet  the  crisis  brought  about  by  the  nullify- 
in  D-  ordinance  of  South  Carolina,  and  General  Jackson's 


*    Theso  two  letters  are  put  in  an  appendix,  reluctantly,  and  only  because  the  limit* 
assigned  to  this  work  do  not  permit  their  insertion  in  the  large  type  selected  for  the  body  of 
this  book.    Xo  admirer  of  Governor  Troup'*  State  Rights  priidples-.  will  fail  to  n>;vl 
letters  attentively. — ED. 


518  LIFE  OF   GEORi-K  M.  Tl:  [Ciur.  XIII. 

determination  to  put  down  what  ho  deemed  a  political 
lieresv.  Some  ,.f  the  ir:  'en  that  ever  tii-'iirod  in 

. 

American  li:  -n  and  debaters,  were  in  that. 

CongreaB,  Calhoun,  Clay  and  Webster  were  in  the  Sen- 
ate. !>e-idc-  Mini:  :s'who  would  have  adorned 
any  deliberat:  lily. 

The  Revenne  Collection  Hill,  1110:1-  commonly  known  as 
the  "  Force   I>ill,v  rame  up  i'or  il  Mid  third 

read! KIT,  on  ixtli  ..     Alihouirh  unable  to  take  any 

}>art  in  ck-ba  in  left  his  >ick  l>f<|.  and  waited 

until  nearly  midniirht.  tort  cord  hi  :iin^t  the  measure. 

<  >ut  of  forty   -  .   the  only  iu ••. 

George  M.  Bibb,  John  (\  Calhoun.  William  EL  King,  Willie 

I*.   M:i!i:Ml!ii.  i  ).  Mil! 

Tuorr  and  John  Tyler.     On  :  .'  thehill.on  L'uth 

February,  all  the  ab..ve  Q| 

Mr/l'vler,  wh  •  \vas 

too  >!ck  '  •  ibllowino-  letter   from  him  1-.   one 

of    1  he    6 

this  part  of  hi-  hi>iory  : 

DAI  Decemb 

Of  the   misc. insf:  and  misivi-r> 

tations  eonnected  with  every  thinir  I  write,  you  are  not 
insensible;  so  lhat,  if  I  had  i.  -:dly  and  deliberately 

mysterious  in  all  things  written  or  -noken,  and  conspic- 
uously distiniru:  "f  purpose  and  in- 
directio::  iuct,  all  :  .idnotli-  -cied 
any  thinir  wo:v.-.  Take,  for  example,  the  instance  to  which 
you  empnaticallj  call  my  attention—"  the  impression  U 
attempted  to  be  made  tir  h  would  have,  Noted  for 
the  Force  Bill  of  the  lu-!  •  had  been  in 
your  (my)  seat." 

I  went  from  my  chamber  to  the  <  'a]»itol.  at  an  early  hour 
of  the  afternoon,  and,  suffering  much  pain,  kept. 

*      In   the  delate  mi  tliN  bill,  n;i  l'.".]\  K'-l>riiary.  ^r,  in  a  long  speech 

in  ojip  .  'i'n.ii|i, 

tliin  \\hoiu  n  :    tli:iu 

•  i  n  try: 
and  \\\i-  <"}\-\  i.l 

.    --.,-••  1"  til.'   I..^i-U;ii:v    i  (  111:;' 

an  extract  from  \\Iiii-li  I  mhinit,  fmiuinin,^  i<  hy  tlir  attctilioii  of  linimr- 

in  t)n-i.  ;(ioii." — ICn. 


CHAP.  XIII.]  LETTER  OF  RESIGNATION.  519 

until  midnight,  when  /  voted  against  the  Force  Bill.  If 
on  my  death-bed,  I  would  have  been  carried  there  to  vote 
against  it ;  because  it  presented  the  strange  political  phe- 
nomenon of  a  mere  government  treating  a  sovereign  State 
as  if  that  State  were  a  corporation  or  an  unlawful  assem- 
blage of  individuals.  The  vote  was  recorded,  and  pub- 
lished in  all  the  newspapers  of  the  day  ;  and  yet  it  is 
attempted  to  make  the  impression  that  I  would  have  voted 
for  the  Force  Bill  if  I  had  been  in  my  seat.  So  the  world 
goes. 

Your  friend,  very  truly, 

G.  M.  TBOUP. 

The  22d  Congress  expired  on  the  3d  of  March,  1833. 
Governor  Troup  never  returned  to  Washington  as  a  public 
man.  In  November  following,  he  resigned  his  seat,  and 
bade  a  final  adieu  to  public  employment. 

The  following  is  a  copy  of  his  letter  of  resignation : 

LAUEENS  COUNTY,  November  8th,  1833. 

To  his  Excellency,  Gov.  Lumpkin: 

Sir:  In  execution  of  a  deferred  resolution,  I  resign  my 
seat  in  the  Senate  of  tho  United  States.  Reasons,  merely 
personal,  it  would  concern  you  very  little  to  receive  ;  and 
others,  which  are  of  higher  import,  belong  to  my  constitu- 
ents, who  might  not  choose  to  be  troubled  with  them.  It 
may  suffice,  that,  if  the  people  of  Georgia  are  as  they  were, 
another  can  serve  them  more  usefully ;  and,  if  they  are 
not,  I  would  be  the  last  whom  they  would  select  to  serve 
them  at  all. 

Your  fellow-citizen, 

G.  M.  TROUP. 


;,L>c  LIFE  OF  GEORGE   M.  TROUP.  I  CHAP.  XI\  . 


:  XIV. 

Govenmr  •  /.  /, /  Stirfi  J!it//itx  nan, 

:il   I'll  >".V  ( 

/in. i/.-   and    Imlc- 
1s  H>. — 

/.<  iijipvsi  'I  i-,  .m-(A 

of   1S~)U. —  /.  ,,. — 

Nominated  for  tl  /•//  AVy/.v,  •  «n«N 

Allllxl.lli:. 

heaft/i ;  irth. 

—  > 

ON  retiring  to  his   home  in  Laim  r  Troiip 

lived  in  as  complete  seclusion  from  political  alfairs,  as  any 
man,  of  his  commanding  position  and  well  known  and  de- 
cided princi]  id.  Without  political  aspirations,  he 
was  still  unreserved  in  th  -ion  of  his  opinions  on  all 
subjects  of  general  intere.-t,  and  willingly  communicated 
them,  in  writing,  to  those  who  solicited  hi 

convention,  composed  of  State  Rights  members  of  the 
Legislature,  and  delegates  from  various  counties  in  the  State, 

ubled  atMilledgeville,  on  the  12th  of  December,  ; 
At  this  meeting,  Gov.  TV  nominated  for  the  Presi- 

dency, in  the  following  resolution: 

"fiewlved,  That  we  recommend  to  the  people  of  the 
United  States,  Col.  GEORGE  M.  T;  a  suitable  candi- 

date for  the  next  Presidency.  His  zealous  advocacy  of, 
and  his  lirm  attachment  to,  the  principles  of  State  1  lights, 
designate  him  as  the  individual  best  calculated  to  promote 
the  Republican  doctrines  we  advocate." 

It  was  evident  that  this  recommendation  was  intended 
more  as  a  compliment  to  Governor  Troup,  than  as  the 
expression  of  a  belief  that  it  could  be  successful.  Nothing 
more  was  done  about  it.  In  reference,  partly,to  this 
demonstration,  he  wrote  the  following  : 

LAI  ;  January,  1834. 

My  Dear  Friend  :     From  the   information   given,   and 


CHAP.  XIV.]  THE  PRESIDENCY,  &c.  521 

desire  expressed,  in  your  and  other  letters,  for  the  publica- 
tion of  the  political  letter,*  I  have  given  my  consent ;  al- 
though I  fear  it  may  be  construed  as  a  political  manoeuvre 
in  aid  of  the  nomination — a  measure,  which,  whatever  may 
be  my  own  views  of  its  policy,  having  originated  in  the 
best  feelings  and  with  the  best  objects,  I  will  say  or  do 
nothing  to  thwart.  I  hope,  at  the  same  time,  that  I  will 
not  be  asked  to  do  anything  to  promote  it  The  impossi- 
bility of  success  does  not  enter  at  all  into  my  views  of  the 
subject:  for,  under  circumstances  much  more  favorable  to 
it,  my  resolution  would  be  the  same.  I  consider  it  morally 
impossible  to  bring  back  the  Government  to  its  pristine 
principles ;  but  that  is  no  good  reason  that  the  virtuous 
men  of  the  country  should  not  make  an  effort. 

""     "     Remember  me,  as  usual,  to  all,  and  believe  me, 
Very  affectionately, 

G.  M.  TEOUP. 
Dr.  W.  C.  Daniell, 

Savannah. 

In  July,  183i,  Gov.  Troup  publicly  identified  himself,  in 
feeling,  with  the  State  Eights  party  of  Georgia.  Being  at 
Macon,  on  his  way  to  the  Indian  Springs,  he  was  invited  to 
a  public  dinner.  In  declining  the  honor,  he  said,  amongst 
other  things :  "  the  State  Eights  party  of  Georgia  have  my 
best  wishes  for  their  success."  f 

This  announcement  was  the  occasion  of  much  comment 
by  Georgia  politicians,  and  will  serve  to  explain  the  politi- 
cal par-t  of  the  following  : 

LAUKENS,  25th  Sept.,  1834. 

My  Dear  Friend  :     -;:'  G 

*         *     *•    *,  of  -    wrote,  in 

behalf  of      *.  *.  ::",  to  know  if  I 

approved  of  the  prefatory  editorial  to  my  Macon  letter. 
The  letter  being  dictated 'in  a  very  friendly  spirit,  I  answer- 
ed, thinking,  it  might  possibly  do  some^good.  ^  Not  know- 
ing him  personally,  but  understanding  his  political  position, 
I  treated  the  matter  with  mildness  and  gentleness,  but, 

*  For  this  letter,  (to  Major  Howard.)  see  the  Appendix  to  this  volume.— ED. 

t  Such  was  tho  influence  of  his  name  and  character,  in  Georgia,  notwithi-tandin:;  Un- 
decided tone  of  the  letter  from  which  the  above  quotation  is  made,  that  many  of  his  old 
political  associates,  although  not  prepared  to  go  the  length  of  his  extreme  State  Rights  views, 
took  the  name  of  •'•'  Troup  Union"  men.  Personally,  ho  never  lost  their  affections. — ED. 


I.  IFF  01  \\.  TROFP.  [Our.  XIV. 

with  deei-ion.     A.tnong  Other  things,  <     * 

having  expressed  his  great  abhorrence  of  nullifi- 
cation.) I  rei[iie<ted  liini  I"  say  to  my  old  friend, 
'•that  tlu-  denial  of  ab-olnte    sovereignty    to    the    State-. 
vronld  be  more  mischievous  and  ruinous  than  10,0011  lmlra< 
h>  be  raised  from  nullification."      How  it  will  take.  I  (lonot 
know  —  as  apt  to  confirm  the  apostasy  as  to  shake  it.     They 
force  me  to  write  political  letters:  and  have  written  one  to 
Hancock,   cautioning,  at   the  same   time. 
and  they  hear  of  fragment^   from  it. 

to  challenge  the  production  and  implication.  Have  written 
.another  to  Talliot.  in  an-wer  t«>  one  from  Ureediove  and 
(iraybill,  whom  J  don't  know,  but  who  profess  to  befriends. 
If  tliev  are  not.  the  letter  will  <erve  them  no  iiur|)o-e. 

'•  - 


ynur-, 

G,  ^ 
Dr.  W.  C.  Danicll, 

Savannah. 

The  following  is  the  letter    to  I'.ivedlove    and 

Graybill,  to  which  reference  i-  ab..ve  made.  It  was  exten- 
sively published,  at  the  time,  as  a  letter  "  t-.  -ume  State 
Rights  gentlemen  in  Talbot  comity:" 

(  'eiitlemen  :  The  State-  are  sovereign,  or  they  are  not. 
We  prove  the  afUrmative,  by  the  Declaration  of  Independ- 
ence, and  the  Articles  <»j'  Confederation  —  let  the  federal 
party  prove  the  negative  if  they  can.  If  a  State  is  sovereign. 
it  can  do  any  thing  —  it  can  nullity  any  act  of  Congress,  or 
secede;  is  subject  only  to  the  law  of  nature  and  nations, 
which  it  is  bound  {.>  respect.  This  exercise  of  its  sovereign 
power  has  nothing  to  <ln  with  the  Constitution,  much 
with  revolution  —  it  is  above  the  Constitution,  because  it  has 
the  law  of  nations  for  its  constitution,  and  it  can  have  m. 
connection  with  revolution,  !•  >f  all  acts  of  human 

power  and  authority,  it  is  most  commanding,  peaceable, 
legitimate  and  sacred.  <  )ur  opponents  involve  themselves 
in  inextricable  difficulty.  The  Federalists  say  that  the 
powers  of  sovereignty  have  been  divided  between  the 
State  and  Federal  <  iovcrnments  --if  s<>,  the  higher  powers 
having  been  given  to  theJatter,  if  ;  -  the  greater  sov- 

reignty,  and  on  that  account  must  be  the  judge  of  its  own 
powers,  which  makes  it  absolute.  And  yet  the  Federalists 
admit  that  sovereignty  resides  in  the  people,  by  which  tliev 


CHAI-.  XIV. J  STATE  SOVEREIGNTY,  in:  ;,*.:; 

mean  the  whole  people  of  the  United  States  ;  when  or  how 
they  became  one  people,  they  cannot  explain.  The  weaker 
among  them  are  divided  in  opinion;  some  saying  it  re- 
sides in  the  United  States,  without  being  able  to  show  a 
substantive,  distinct  and  independent  being  called  the 
United  States,  and  capable  of  receiving  sovereignty ;  and 
others  that  the  Government  is  sovereign,  because  the  peo- 
ple have  vested  their  sovereign  powers  in  the  Government ; 
as  if  a  Government,  a  mere  agent,  were  capable  of  receiv- 
ing sovereign  powers.  Thus  inconsistency  follows  incon- 
sistency, and  contradiction  contradiction.  If  sovereign 
powers  could  vest  in  a  Government,  that  Goverment  could 
transfer  them  to  any  subject  capable  of  receiving  them,  in 
virtue  of  that  very  sovereignty. 

Carolina  had  a  perfect  right  to  do  as  she  did  ;  but,  as  we 
do  not  always  wisely  what  we  have  right  to  do,  I  blamed 
Carolina  for  not  acting  in  concert  with  those  States  having 
identical  interests — if  she  had  done  so,  a  certain  and 
complete  triumph  of  the  Constitution  would  have  been 
the  result. 

You  perceive,  therefore,  that  the  denial  to  a  State  of 
absolute  sovereignty,  is  a  surrender  of  the  whole  question: 
as,  in  any  aspect  of  it,  the  Federal  Government  having  the 
higher  attributes  of  sovereignty,  can,  in  no  event,  be 
checked,  or  restrained,  or  limited  by  a  power  possessing 
only  the  minor  attributes. 

Very  respectfully,  gentlemen, 

G.  M.  TROUT. 

The  year  18oT  is  remembered  for  the  severe  commercial 
crisis  through  which  the  country  passed.  Having  been 
invited  by  the  State  Rights  party  of  Chatham  county,  to 
attend  the  celebration  of  the  4th  of  July,  of  that  year,  at 
Savannah,  and  being  unable  to  attend,  he  wrote  a  letter, 
dated  30th  June,  from  which  the  following  extract  is 
made : 

'•In  all  past  time,  and  in  every  country,  what  is  called  a 
crisis,  a  panic,  an  excitement,  or  any  temporary  evil,  nat- 
ural or  artificial,  has  been  seized  upon  by  the  friends  of 
arbitrary  power,  to  strengthen  the  arm  of  Government  al- 
ready strong  enough.  The  present  state  of  things,  full  of 
distress,  and  moving  the  strongest  passions,  is  also  full  of 
danger  for  posterity,  who  may  weep  in  more  sorrow  and  bit- 


524  LIFE  OF  GEDRGE  M.  TROT  [Cmr.  XIV 

terness  of  heart,  the  doings  of  its  aiu 
panic.    Be  pleased  to  a 
expression  of  a  hope^an  anxious  hop*. 
party  of  Georgi  .  mnot  limit  or  restrain,  will  never, 

dirtcily  or  indirc&ly,  contribute  t 
' 


To  a  friend,  who  desired  to  . 
rency  question,  Gov.  Troup  wrote  a  long  let* 
.  1840,  which  the  reader  will  find  in 

::ie.     "The  use  and  abuse  of  his  nan. 
tion  with"  the  Presidency,  had 
stance  of  his  name  having  been  used  in 
the  news-papers  in  Georgia,  for  that  01  :  con- 

ductors came  out  in  support  of  Gen. 
Van  Burcn. 

On  25th  Jv. 
and  said  : 

••  Have  been  much   plague 
hoped,  by  abusing  everv  bod  • 
but  it  is  not  so.  and  a 
publ 

In  the  same  letter,  i 
Buren  over  the  other  party,  and  added:  '-hut  : 

een  arsenic  and  hellebore;  and  wh 
choice,  when  we  can  refuseb 

The  following  K  -ame  1'ri- 

ville,)  shows  that  the  writer  of  it  indifferent  T 

pleasures  of  social  intercourse,  and  that  lie  could  indulge- 
in  the  sallies  of  pleasantry  : 

My  Dear  1  ;:in<l  invita- 

tion.    My  brotii  me. 

in  J  :  ami  i 

possible  :  ill  mak«  T  in  all. 

•  remain  with  you  as 

•  The  tab-TuMiiij  •cknnc-,  to  wUk  h  t  hi-  VM  enacted  into  a  law 

iUi  Julr.  1S4X  vhich  WM  ivpecled  13th  Augu»t.  1S41.    Tl««  prMeat  »y*tem 
timiint.  trMJsfcrring  ml  dWmnug  the  pat4ic  rtTmae,  WM  Adopted  \>y  Art 


CCb  Anr«-  l^C.    •MMkMitATCk.lMMfMHfllrtMMatlMV 


XIV.]  PRIVATE  LETTERS. 

as  we  can.  * 

I  am  so  much  afraid,  in  these  Harrisonian  days,  of  judges, 
sheriffs,  bailiffs,  and  their  precepts,  that,  apart  from  all  other 
motive  or  consideration,  any  one  of  them  would  as  easily 
conduct  me  to  the  river  Styx  as  a  gaol ;  and  you  know- 
gaol  or  Styx  is  the  alternative — at  least,  it  is  so  with  us.  I 
hope  better  things,  in  your  quarter,  than  molten  lead  for  a 
man  who  is  not  yet  entitled  to  a  place  on  that  side  of  the 
gulf;  and  shall  content  myself  with  the  fare  of  Lazarus, 
which,  as  I  remember,  was  a  little  worse  than  I  have  been 
accustomed  to  under  the  roof  of  a  gentleman  who  shall  be 
nameless. 

Many  kind  remembrances  to  all  yours. 

G.  M.  TEOLP. 

To  the  same  Mend,  he  said,  on  15th  September,  1 8 
••I  had  heard  something  of  *  *  *  -*  *,  aforetime, 
which  prepared  me  for  his  present  decided  attitude.  By 
the  by.  is  it  not  sayingsomething  for  a  good  cause,  that  such 
men  cannot  follow  the  lead  of  their  would-be  leaders,  and 
on  questions,  too,  not  only  leading,  but,  to  their  party,  es- 
sentially vital?  Why  cannot  our  friend  *  *, 
one  of  the  best  of  men,  renounce  his  Bankism,  and  suffer 
the  real  friends  of  the  Southern  country  to  vote  for  him  ? 
The  enlightened  men,  who  are  opposed  to  a  Bank,  believe 
it  to  be  unconstitutional,  and  most  disasirous  to  Southern 
interests ;  and  they  cannot  conscientiously  vote  for  even 
such  a  patriot  as  *." 

Again,  on  7th  [November,  1842,  speaking  of  the  Presi- 
dential question,  and  of  some  things  that  he  regarded  as 
errors  in  the  Democratic  party,  he  said: 

••  Yon  are  a  very  bad  party,  but  your  adversary  is  the 
d — 1 :  and  as  Milton,  an  excellent  Eepablican,  did  most 
excellently  and  transcendentally  overcome  and  defeat  him, 
so  I  have  no  doubt  you  will,  and  by  the  same  means — the 
intrinsic  merit  and  virtue  of  your  cause,  according  to  pro- 

•n.  at  least :   and  profession  is  something." 
On  the  3d  of  April,  ISM,  he  wrote  to  the  same  friend  : 
•  Do  me  the  favor  to  say  to  Ben,  that,  when  he  resolves 
to  take  np  Blackstone.  I  recommend  to  him  the  edition  of 
Tncker.    Although  it  is  not  a  commentary  on  Blackstone.  it 
is  a  most  excellent  comparison  of  English  and  American 
constitutions  and  laws,  illustrated  with  mirch  clearness  and 
ability,  with  sufficient  candor  and  impartiality,  and  afford- 
ing, at  the  same  time,  the  best  exposition  of  the  Federal 


,V_/t;  LIFE  OF  GEORGE   M.  TUOl  V.  [Cn.u-.  XIV. 

Constitution  and  government  of  any  work  extant.  I  fear 
the  Federal  lawyers  will  proscribe  and  banish  it  their 
libraries."* 

On  the  . 'Hi  of  June.  1^41.  in  rej>ly  lo  a  question  from  two 
gentlemen  of  Putnam  county,  whether  it  would  be  ''politic 
and  expedient,  or  rather  just,  on  the  part  of  the  (Jovern- 
ment  of  the  United  Si  at,.--.  e»nsideriii:..  ing  relations 

to  Mexico,   and  r  \iphical  position  to  that  of  Texas. 

to  incorporate  immediately  the  latter  Government  into  the 
Union,  without  the  formal  acknowledgment  on  the  part 
of  Mexico,"  Governor  Tnuip  wrote  a  letter,  in  which  he 
said  he  had  "not  the  least  doubt"  in  regard  to  '-that  mea- 
ure,  not  merely  a?  one  of  expediency  and  -oimd  policy, but 
as  vital,  in  every  sense  of  the  word;  without  which,"  la- 
added,  ''the  southern  and  western  country  are  in  imminent 
peril."  We  make  a  few  more  extract^: 

"If  Texas,  following  the  example  of  Mexico,  \vere  to 
pa-s  an  act  <>f  emancipation,  well  knowing  that  the  same 
population  would  simultaneously  cross  the  line  to  poison 
and  corrupt  and  incite  their  own  color  to  cut  the  thro;:' 
the  women  and  children  on  this  side,  no  doubt  could  be  enter- 
tained by  the  ~trieii->t  casui>ts,  of  the  right  of  the  Southern 
States  (the  Federal  Government  refusing  its  aid,)  to  protect, 
themselves  by  all  the  means  in  their  power,  as  a  case  of 
imminent  peril,  and  one  not  admitting  of  del; 

When  the  United  States  ac- 
knowledged the  independence  of  Texas,  Mexi.v  knew 
that  such  acknowledgment  would  qualify  Texas  to  make 
a  treaty  of  cession,  or  any  other  treaty  :  and  she  did 
not  then  choo.-e  to  make  it  a  cause  of  war  with  the  United 
States." 

He  stated,  as  the  substance  of  his  views,  that  it  was 
"  better,  every  thing  considered,  to  take  the  treaty  of  ces- 
sion as  a  good  and  valid  treaty,  than  to  run  the  haxard  of 
occupying  Texas  by  force,  (whether  a  territory  of  Mexico  or 

:::     Iti  tl,  .,inl  inn.  11.   I   lit-tir  ••f  i.M  I'l-i'-nds  foiling  in  witli 

tlie   Federal  curreh!  *    *    *     '  I'l  a-   l,  11  mr  lmw 

yuUlilu!  .Mr.  •  :'.  ill    li.-;iltll   illlil      -|Mlil~.     ;.!!.!    il    (,lll     ,-\,-l'llrllt    IVii-Ild   :: 

ng,  o.iin-.  In-  «\.n]d  l 

"ii  \vliiuii  a  -!i.-i.|,.  nfMisjiiciuii  would  n--,|  :  l.nt  tin-  \vorlil  isch:tii^»ikble  :  uinl.  witliout  tlio  tanh 

:.  li |inl"i   an.l   the   PI.I-  into  jnxtniio-ition  ln-Iui-.-  wo  can 

turn  ruuud." — UK 


<'IMI-.    XIV.]  CALIFORNIA  AND  nWT'KO.MISK.  -»- 

Texas,)  as  a  measure  of  self-preservation  against  the  threat- 
ened aggressions  of  England,  Mexico,  or  Texas,  or  all  of 
them,"  &c. 

From  private  letters  written  by  him,  about  this  time,  it 
would  be  interesting  to  make  extracts,  did  the  limits  of  this 
work  permit.  They  all  breathe  the  spirit  of  contentment, 
and  evince  a  keen  relish  for  the  pleasures  of  social  life. 
Without  active  participation  in  politics,  he  yet  took  an  in- 
terest in  what  was  going  on. 

On  the  14th  of  June,  1845,  he  wrote  : 

"The  Federal  party  seems  to  be  losing  ground, 
fast,  in  every  quarter,  and  in  a  fair  way  to  be  reducible  to 
cipher.  May  such  be  its  fate,  if  the  omnipotency  of  the 
other  should  not  make  it,  forgetful  of  its  duties  and  princi- 
ples." 

Of  his  health,  he  said,  on  20th  May,  184«  : 

"  To  tell  you  the  truth,  my  health  is  bad,  very  bad  —  an 
increasing  aggravation  of  my  old  asthmatic  affection  —  one 
of  the  consequences  of  old  a::<\" 


The  treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,   concluded  in  . 

between  the  United  States  and  Mexico,  secured  to  the  for- 
mer that  vast  extent  of  country  then  known  as  2sew  Mexico 
and  part  of  California.  The  controversy  growing  out  of 
the  attempt  to  form  Governments  for  these  Territories,  and 
the  connection  of  the  question  of  slavery  with  the  agitation 
which  grew  out  of  those  attempts,  aro  of  too  recent  occur- 
rence and  too  closely  allied  to  the  general  history  of  the 
times,  to  require  particular  notice  here.  It  was  in  refer- 
ence to  these  absorbing  questions,  that  Gov.  Troup,  in  1S4!'. 
wrote  two  letters  to  a  friend,  in  Mobile,  and  which,  for  a 
reason  already  assigned,  we  are  forced  to  place  in  the  Ap- 
pendix. Although  the  writer  was  then  in  his  seventieth 
year,  and  abstracted  from  public  employment  of  every  sort. 
these  letters  show  a  vigor  of  intellect,  and  a  spirit  of  patri- 
otic devotion  to  the  rights  of  the  South,  entitling  them  to 
the  careful  consideration  of  the  reader.  Of  the  same  char- 
acter, are  the  two  letters  to  his  friend  Dr.  Slappey  ;  the  latest 


528  LIFE  OF  GEORGE  M.   TROUP.  [Ciur.  XIV- 

of  these  two  having  been  written  when  Gov.  Tronp  was 
nearly  seventy-live  years  old. 

Of  Governor  Troup's  allusion  to  "  fanaticism  in  the  per- 
son of  the  good  and  gallant  Lu  Fayette,"  a  passing  notice 
is  proper.  From  the  second  letter  to  his  Mobile  friend,  it- 
will  be  seen  that  "the  illustration  of  fanaticism  in  the 
character  of  Gen.  La  Fayette,  was  not  designed  to  detract 
any  thing  from  the  merits  of  that  really  excellent  man." 
Gov.  Troup  was  too  candid  to  give  countenance  t<>  what  he 
deemed  political  error,  when  it  came  in  his  way.  It  wu- 
well  understood,  at  the  time,  that,  during  La  Fayette's 
visit  to  Georgia,  he  uttered  some  imprudent  remarks  on  the 
subject  of  slavery,  in  presence  of  Gov.  Troup,  which  made 
the  interview  unpleasant.* 

In  February,  1850,  the  General  Assembly  adopted  reso- 
lutions approving  the  recommendation  for  a  convention  to 
be  hold  at  Nashville,  in  June,  of  that  year,  by  the  people 
of  the  slave-holding  State-,  M  as  eminently  conducive  t«> 
harmonious  and  efficient  action  among  them,  in  defence  of 
the  institution  of  slavery,"  Arc.,  (fee.,  and  lor  the  appoint- 
ment. by  the  Legislature,  <>f  four  dele  j  Mate 

at  large  ;  and  two  from  each  of  the  Congressional  Districts, 
to  be  elected  by  the  people  on  the  first  Tuesday  in  April. 
The  people  of  Chatham  county  having  determined  to  ap- 
point a  committee  "  from  each  of  the  political  parties,'* 
Arc.,  to  recommend  one  candidate  and  one  alternate,  each, 
for  the  first  Congressional  District,  the  Democratic  Com- 
mittee unanimously  recommended  Governor  Tronp  as  the 
Democratic  candidate.f  It  is  almost  superfluous  to  add 

*  From  an  article  which  appi;!'  -aibus  news-paper,  in  1850,  tho  following  Is 

•  Wh"ii  Gen.  La  Fay.  '  i.  Governor  Troup,  having  wavi.-d  his  hand  In 

'ion,  tunicM  •  :,  'gentlemen.  I  hi-artily    •  ralLa 

him  ilrpart.'  " 
think,  to  Gov.  Tronp  nnd  Gen.  La  Fayi  i  •••:  WIM-H   tli 

mo.int 

no  more  Iliau  that  tho  tro;  ,ml  wau  the  intural  result  of  anti-slavery  «i  cmancipa- 

ii"!i  ..•iifini,  'Hi  .-.    EBs  reference  to  Mr  .  Joflfenoi  rn.>r  Tr.'ii].'.- 

i-i-mli'niv  in  t  '  -orh.  —  KD. 


•j-  The  committi'O  f-ai'l  :     ••  Tin'*  has  necessarily  1>ccn  done  without  consultation    with  him. 
The  committ-  ivc  full  confidence  that  ho  who  commenced  his  brilliant  oai 

pnblic  dntip«  in  Diis  Consre^i-.Tiiil  District,  and  in  this  comity,  will   now,   nflcr  a  lonR  lif-  of 


«'iur.  XIV.]      NASHVILLE   CONVENTION— PRESIDENCY.  599 

that  he  was  elected.  On  the  3d  of  April,  two  days  after 
the  election,  he  addressed  a  note  to  Hon.  R.  M.  Charlton, 
in  which,  after  stating  that  he  had  received  the  announce- 
ment, only  the  day  before,  "  in  consequence  of  very  bad 
weather  and  high  waters,"  he  added  : 

_"  I  trust,  notwithstanding,  that  the  First  Congressional 
District  may  have  elected  a  gentleman  who  will  serve 
them  at  Nashville,  with  more  certainty  and  more  ability 
than  myself.  Be  pleased  to  say  to  the  Committee,  and, 
through  them,  to  my  fellow-citizens  of  Chatham  county, 
without  distinction  of  party,  that  there  is  scarcely  any  thing 
they  would  ask  me  to  do,  'which,  if  I  thought  I  could  do  it 
well,  I  would  not  consent  to  do  for  them. "  In  inviting  me 
to  represent  them  in  the  assembly  contingently  to  be  held 
at  Nashville,  they  have,  on  their  part,  but  performed  an  act 
of  pure  and  exalted  patriotism  ;  on  mine,  by  accepting  the 
invitation,  I  would  only  have  performed  the  duty  of  a  good 
citizen." 

The  Convention  met  on  the  first  Monday  in  June,  and 
adjourned  over  to  a  day  in  November.  Governor  Troup 
did  not  attend  either  session."-"  Public  opinion  was  much 
divided  in  Georgia,  as  to  the  propriety  or  probable  useful- 
ness of  the  Convention. 

In  1852,  Governor  Troup  was  nominated  for  the  Presi- 
dency of  the  United  States,  by  a  convention  of  the  South- 
ern Rights  party  of  Alabama,  with  Gen.  Quitman  for  the 
Yice-Presidency.  To  the  Committee  who  informed  him  of 
the  nomination,  he  replied,  as  follows : 

disinterested  and  devoted  patriotism,  yield,  with  a  lively  satisfaction,  to  tbe  call  of  those  > 
fathers  matured  and  cherished  his  early  aspirations,  and  gave  to  the  State  an  eminent  patriot 
mid  statesman,  and  who  has  proved  himself  faithful  to  his  first  friend--,   by  '''incr  true  to  our 
common  country.    The  committee  deem  it  of  the  first  importance,  at   >u<-h  a  juncture 
present,  to  call  into  the  public  service,  men  of  the  purest  virtue,  tli  i   patriotism, 

and  the  highest  grade  of  talent.     All   the.sj  unit*'  eminently  in  Governor  Troiip." — ED. 

*    On  10th  October,  he  wrote  to  a  friend :     "Finding  thin  'and 

. i nd  particularly  after  the  miscalled  Pacification  by  Conjriv--.  I  iv-olvod,  rv.-n  H 
not  to  attend  the  second  Convention  at  Xashville,  if  one  should  be  hold  .-n  ;  and  accordingly,  a 
few  days  since,  informed  the  Governor  that  I  would  not;  so  that,  if  bo  <!•  •  may 

nomin.H  :•.  whether  there  be  really  any  vacancy  or  not.    It  would  have  given  me 

much  pleasure,  if  I  could  have  represented  the  f-w  counties,  especially  Chatham,  whieh 
for  me." 

The"  Pacification''  to  which  this  letter  referretl,  embraced  ! 

urcs  of  Congress,  including  the  Act  proposing  Northern  and  \l~estern  boundaries  for'; 
to  establish  a  Territorial  Government  for  New  Mexico,  ic.,  the  Act  for  ••  admis-siou  of  California 
into  the  Union,"  and  the  Act   "to  establish  a  Territorial  Government  for  Utah;''  all  approved 
on  the  9th  September.  l?r,n.    gee  U.  P.  Statutes  at  Large,  vol.  9.  pases  44*3  to  43$.— Ki>. 


;,;;,i  LIFE  OF  <  M'IIAP.  XIV. 

\'  ILDOfi       .  '  .  <  <\.,  I 

:  ember  i?7.  1  *."••_'.  » 

Gentlemen:      I  am  n»w  seventy-two  years  old.  and,  for 
the  last  twenty  or  thirty  years,  if  the  Presidency  had  ] 
offered  spontaneously  l.y  the  people  <>f  the  I'nited  S: 
I  would  not  ha\.  d  ir.  because  <>f  my  physical  dis- 

qualification to    execute   the    dutie^   <•!'  the-  c.ftice.      At    no 
])eriod  within  that  time,  could   I,  as  an  honest  man,  . 
Not  many  .  ^;ate   Rights  par; 

v/crt-   pleased  to  make    that  nomination:  and    mv 
ac<p:.  was  placed  «>n  the  footing  that   the   acv 

ance  would  fullil  the<>i>ject  of  th>  <i,viz:  that,  other- 

rty  which  liad    \ 

native  and  citizen  of  (  landcoiilaiio  asly 

vote  for  any  other  candidate,  who  had  a  ta'r  |.ros;>ect  <>f 
succi  at  liherty  to  vote  for  me.  while  «'tlie' 

had  i. 

It  was  the   partiality   of  friendship  which  1    a 

similar  movement  of  distinguished  citi/.cns  oi'  South   < 
lina,  on  another  •  .  and  which  I  discountenanced  for 

similar  reasons. 

">  "iir   decided  nomination,    on     tl:  !»n, 

leaves  me  no  alternative  hut  t«>  submit  myself  cheerfully 
to  the  will  of  the  State  lii-hts  convention  of  Alabama, 
recently  assembled  at  Montgomery,  in  that  State ;  1" 
the  sole  puqiose  of  or^ani/in^that  party.  It.  as  well  as  the 
State  Rights  ]>arty  of  any  portion  of  the  United  States, 
may  rightfully  demand  that  which  it  has  only  asked,  be- 
can-e.  in  my  day  and  generation  I  had  labored  to  contribute 
a  mite,  according  1"  ir.y  humble  abilities,  to  sustain  its 
principles.  They  an-  the  only  principles  worth  any  thing 
to  the  Southern  country  ;  and  as  long  as  a  party  of  n\ 
three  can  be  gatheri  MI  eh  a  purpose,  the 

contribution  of  my  name  is  the  least.  I  could  think  of  mak- 
ing— at  least,  for  the  purpose  of  merely  organizing  that 
party;  but,  for  that  purpose  only. 

The  increasing  use  f<>rewarn>  me  that  I 

have  but  a  short  breathing  spell  :  and  I  hasten  to  my  con- 
clusion. 

I  would  vote  for  Pierce  and  King.  Mr.  King  is  a  CD 
excellent  man,  and  1  have  n«>)  expected  ever  to  be  able  to 
vote  for  a  .Northern  man  so  pure  and  disinterested  as  Mr. 
Pierce;  and  you  may  never  have  such  another  opportunity. 
Embrace  it — and  use  my  name,  a<  long  as  you  plca-c.  f'-r 
organi/ing  the  State  Kights  parly,  and  maintaining  and 
i-onsecrating  its  prim-ip!' 


CHAP.  XIV.]  LAST  SICKNESS— DEATH.  531 

It  is  honorable  to  have  such  an  associate  in  the  nomina- 
tion, as  Gen.  Qnitman.  He  deserves  and  would  adorn 
any  office. 

C.  M.  TROUI'." 

To  Messrs.  Thomas  Williams, 
J.  A.  Elmore,  G.  B.  DnVal, 
Montgomery,  Ala. 

Letters  from  him  to  his  friends,  written  between  this  time 
and  the  period  of  his  death,  show  much  mental  vigor,  if 
not  bodily  health.  They  relate  to  various  subjects;  and 
extracts  from  them  would  be  interesting — especially  those 
relating  to  agriculture — if  space  permitted.  Composed  in 
the  privacy  of  retirement  and  the  confidence  of  friendship, 
they  evince  a  tenderness  of  regard  for  those  whom  he  loved, 
and  an  affection  which  age  had  not  lessened.  His  recrea- 
tions seem  to  have  consisted  in  attention  to  his  farming 
interests,  and  occasional  fishing  excursions.  In  early  life, 
he  was  particularly  fond  of  the  chase  ;  the  relish  for  which 
he  indulged  to  a  comparatively  late  period.  The  time, 
however,  was  approaching,  when  he  was  to  leave  the  scenes 
of  earth,  and  the  associations  which  had  contributed  to 
make  his  decline  of  life  tranquil  and  placid. 

Being  on  a  visit  to  his  Mitchell  place,  in  Montgomery 
county,  in  April,  1856,  Governor  Troup  was  taken  with 
hemorrhage  of  the  lungs,  which  there  terminated  his  life, 
on  26th  April,  1856,  after  an  illness  of  five  days.  His  re- 
mains were  interred  at  Eose  Mount,  in  the  same  county, 
beside  those  of  his  brother,  Robert  L.  Troup.  A  granite 
monument,  with  a  suitable  inscription,  marks  the  spot — the 
whole  being  enclosed  by  a  fence  of  native  sand-stone. 

Considering  the  length  of  time  he  had  been  out  of  pub- 
lic service,  the  testimonials,  throughout  the  State,  on  the 
occasion  of  his  death,  were  highly  honorable  to  his  mem- 
ory, and  showed  the  estimation  in  which  his  virtues  and 
public  services  were  held  by  the  people  of  Georgia.  A 
detail  of  these  testimonials  would  lead  to  iindue  prolixity. 

*  la  the  publication  of  this  letter,  at  tho  time,  an  error   occureti,  not  important  t 
noticed  here.    The  Troup  and  Qnitraau  ticket  got  a   lew  thousand  votes  in  Alabama.— EP. 


LIFE  OK  r.EORGK  M.  TROUP.  [Ciur.  XIV. 

At  Savannah,  a  meeting  of  citi/ens.  irrespective  of  party, 
and  presided  over  liy  the  Mayor,  was  held  on  the  .Mh  of 
May  ;  at  which,  feeling  and  suitable  resolution^  W9f9  adopt- 
ed. One  of  these  resolutions  contained  a  request  that  the 
Honorable  John  C.  Xicoll  "deli'  logy  on  the  lite 

and  character  of  the  deceased."  Another  resolution  was, 
to  the  eit'ect,  that  "  the  Chatham  Artillery,  of  which  (Jov. 
Trouj)  was  an  honorary  meniber,  l>e  requested  i<>  lire  min- 
ute-guns corresponding  with  the  number  o{'  the 
deceased,"  6 

To  lion.  J<  iiry  Liimpkin,  we  are  indebted  for  an 

ant  tribute  to  the  memory  •  Troup,  con- 

tained in  a  letter  dated  1  ."•!",  nbtr,  ls.~>7.    The  fol- 

lowing extracts  are  made: 

.:;n  never 

lived,  than  Geor-v  M.  Troup.  lie  arrogated  lo  him-i  It' 
no  credit  for  any  thing  he  had  e\  •  ad  in  th! 

in  most  other  respects,  how  widely  he  differed  from  the 
politicians  of  the  present  day  !  Still.  I  remember,  dlsiinc.tly, 
that  he  was  better  satisfied  with  his  speeches  ;;nd  eli'orN  in 
Congress,  in  brin^in^  on  the  last  v/ar  \vith  (ireat  I'.ritain, 
after  her  dastardly  and  <1  ujion  the  Clu^a- 

pealce,  than  any  other  portion  of  his  pa.-t  jiolitical    life. 

"Your  letter  has   brought   vividly  to    my  feelings,  the 
fact  not  only  that  the  tri'eat  head,  but  th-  J  nil  the 

members,  of  his  military  family,  arc  dead  :  Braiisford,  and 
Jackson,  and  Bailey,  and  Randolph  ;  men  without  fear  :md 
without  reproach.  I  alive  to  testify  to  the  more  than 

Roman  purity  and  patriotism  of  our  glorious  old  chief.  I 
rejoice  to  have  the  opportunity  of  contributing  my  humble 
mite  to  the  merits  of  one  whom  I  loved  as  a  man  and  ven- 
erated as  a  magistrate  beyond  all  other  uria  will 
never  look  upon  his  like  again. 

"  None  dared  approach  him  with  any  other  than  public 
considerations  as  motives  for  his  conduct."  •}• 

*  It  is  greatly  t<p  !>  m  t» 

prononi.  i>i,  ]-_'t|i  May.  niii.i  rliidh.im    Artill.-ry.    Tin- 

fullowi::  ••  M  n.li!i"j  1  '  K'ir-ytli  I'luc".  - 

fix  iiii!Uit--,i:un>  \\.  r  |i|yt.i  llir  M  solution  "I   tli 

Mnl  t.< 

Lieut. C.  f,,i-  thrir   iiis.-rti'Ui.     TI."  fity    <                        •..tnimU 

adjourned  over,  for  ' '  •  i  f.r  ilp' ni-Jiini-y  ••  —  l-i>- 

f       Vi  lilMi',.     l)|-   tills      1'tl'T.       .Illil  •:  ••      I.lllnpKill   \\.H 

one  of  Governor  Trouji's  Staff,  ami  a  warm   IH  ix,>n;il  ;IIP!   ]>ulitiral   fri.'iiil.     nil 


CHAP.  XIV.]  SUMMARY  OF  CHARACTER. 

la  person,  Gov.  Tronp  was  of  the  ordinary  height,  with 
light  complexion,  blue  eyes  and  sandy  hair.  His  carriage 
was  erect,  and  his  step  slow  and  measured.  He  would  have 
passed  for  a  military  man,  anywhere ;  and  those  who  knew 
him  best,  accorded  to  him  military  talents  of  a  high  order. 
The  gravity  of  his  mien,  and  the  guttural  and  almost 
solemn  tones  of  his  voice,  led  strangers  to  suppose  that  his 
dignity  partook  of  austerity ;  but  this  was  not  so.  Re- 
served, even  in  boyhood,  he  was  still  open  and  affable 
with  his  associates ;  adding,  early  in  life,  a  tinge  perhaps  of 
melancholy,  to  that  native  dignity  which  never  forsook  him. 
Perfect  candor  and  the  strictest  truthfulness  were  eminent 
characteristics.  "Where  principle  was  involved,  he  was  a 
stranger  to  the  spirit  of  compromise."'' 

His  domestic  life  was  embittered  by  the  early  and  sudden 
death  of  his  first  wife  ;  and,  afterwards,  by  the  prostration 
of  health,  and  death  of  the  second,  at  a  time,  when,  amid 
the  cares  of  office  and  the  active  engagements  of  life,  the 
weary  heart  looks  for  comfort  and  repose  at  home;  and  his  de- 
clining years  were  saddened  by  the  death  of  his  older  daugh- 
ter, and  the  wreck  of  health  of  his  only  son.  Nevertheless, 
he  retained  a  degree  of  cheerfulness  to  the  last ;  enjoying 
the  social  intercourse  of  friends  at  his  secluded  homestead  ; 
numbers  of  whom  were  attracted  there,  as  well  by  the  cor- 
diality of  his  welcome  and  the  simplicity  of  his  manners. 
as  by  the  amount  of  information  he  imparted,  and  the 
stores  of  political  wisdom  which  he  was  ever  ready  to 
unlock.  Of  the  qualities  of  his  mind  and  his  heart,  his 
writings  are  the  best  delineators.  To  a  vigorous  intellect, 
he  added  the  faculty  of  a  sound  judgment,  and  the  quality 
of  almost  intuitive  perception  of  the  characters  of  men 
and  the  tendency  of  measures.  Whilst  his  firmness  was 
as  conspicuous  as  that  of  any  man,  his  perfect  purity  of 
intention,  and  his  disinterested  zeal  for  the  public  good, 

message,  at  the  extra  session  iu  1S25,  lie  savs :  "  Portions  of  it  have  long  become  as  familiar  as 
household  words ;  and  the  day  is  not  distant  when  its  concluding  paragraph  will  become  the 
watch-word  of  the  patient,  long-suffering  and  dowu-trodili'ii  South." — En. 

:::     On  the  19th  of  April,  1856,  just  one  week  before  his  d.vith.  in  the  postscript  In  n  1.  tt.  i . 
written  to  the  overseer  at  his  Turkey  Creek  place,  lie  said,  iu  reference  to  a  threatened  it: 
with  a  neighbor,  about  apiece  of  land:    "If  I  have  not  right  on  my  side.]   will  surrender, 
but  not  compromise.'' — En. 


;,;;4  LIFK  OK  OKollCK   M.    TKOIT.  [CHAP.  XIV. 

were  :i  standing  rebuke  to  the  timidity   of  the  wavering 
politician,    and    the  seliUhness  of  tlie  demagogue.     AVell 
instructed  in  the  ]>rinciples  of  law,  he  was  deeply  read  in 
history,  and  was  a   thorough  master  of  tlie    English    lan- 
guage.    The  productions  of  his  pen  are  amongst  the  mo-t 
eloquent  on  record,  and  hi-  -ivlewas   as  free  from  redun- 
dancy, as  hi<    language  was  remarkable  .or  directness  of 
"fntterane:-.      WhiUt  Governor  Troup 
not  usually  ranked  with  :  •  intellects  <.f  tin- 

there    ar  \vho    lielieve    that   some    of    his  writings 

will  compare,  favorably,  with  any    of  the    political   eg 
lo  which   the  theory  of  our  federati\ 

iven  ri-e.  A-;  specimens  of  profound  thought, 
and  forcible  and  clear  Argumentation,  they  deserve  to 
runk  with  the  i  .  in  what  were 

-idered  his  extreme  views   of    the  ab.-olu!'  -rnty 

of  the   America'  » iovi-rno>-  Tnuip  wa-  certainly  in 

a  minority;  yet.  those  who  conuei'in  the-e  views  as  im- 
practicable, have  nowhere  -howii  the  fallacy  of  hi?  re:i 
inir,  "i1  proved  that  there;  \-  le~-  danger  from  in-actically 
maintaining  the  opposite  opinions.  Kvery  day's obsen  ation 
tends  to  confirm  the  truth  of  (iovernor  Tmup's  apprehension 
of  danger  from  the  usur]»ations  of  the  central  government. 

Consequent  upon  his  ardent  temperament,  Gov.  Tro 
oratory,  in  the  earlii-r  portion  (,f  his  lite,  was  impassioned 
and  vehement  ;  but  not  open  to  the  jeering  criticism  of  his 
enemies  that  lie  frothed  at  the  mouth.  In  later  life,  his 
utterance,  whether  in  public  or  private,  Was  slow,  distinct 
and  emphatic.  A  irentleman'-',  who  heard  his  addre>- 
before  the  ]>'>ar«i  of  Public  Works,  in  1826,  pronounced 
him  a  line  public  speaker. 

Of  mere  outward  appearance,  lew  men  were  more  care- 
In  the  matter  -.  he  had  little  taste;  and  on 
tin- subject  several  amusing  anecdotes  are  told.  There  is 
no  doubt,  that,  during  the  canvass  for  Governor,  before  tin- 
Legislature  of  1823,  some  of  his  supporters  requested  one 
of  his  most  devou-d  friend-  lo  give  him  a,  hint,  that  the 
election  would  be  lost,  if  he  did  not  appear  in  better  trim. 

*    J.  Hamilton Coii]i"i-.  KM].,  vim  w:i>  11  in--;.  i:    ml.— l.'i>. 


CHAP.  XIV.]    SUMMARY  OF  CHARACTER— CONCLUSION. 

he  duty  was  delicately  performed,  and  the  wish  of  his 
friends  was  at  once  gratified.  Something  similar  had  oc- 
curred, in  1816,  when  lie  passed  through  Savannah  to  take 
his  seat  in  the  U.  S.  Senate.  This  did  not  proceed  from 
parsimony,  or  a  disposition  to  appear  eccentric.  His 
clothes  were  usually  of  good  quality,  but  often  of  the  oddest 
colors  or  the  worst  fit.  His  peculiar  and  perhaps  only 
fancy  was  for  a  blue  coat  with  metal  buttons,  a  buff  vest, 
and  a  fur  cap.  Whilst  his  habits  were  retiring,  and  most 
of  his  private  life  was  spent  at  his  plantation  ;  yet  it  was 
usual  for  him  to  pass  a  portion  of  the  warm  season,  at  the 
Indian  Springs,  or  some  other  watering-place  in  Georgia. 
He  exercised,  even  at  these  places,  much  on  horseback. 
His  principal  diversions,  at  home,  consisted  in  riding  over 
his  crops,  in  fishing  and  hunting ;  but  more  of  his  time  was 
spent  in  reading.  Possessed  of  an  ample  fortune,  he  lived 
in  abundance,  if  not  elegance,  delighting  in  the  society  and 
conversation  of  friends.  His  memory  of  historical  events 
is  said  to  have  been  remarkable ;  and  his  published  and 
official  correspondence  shows  the  readiness  and  facility  of 
the  action  of  his  mental  powers.  ]^o  one  can  contemplate 
his  executive  career,  without  awarding  to  him  administra- 
tive talents  of  first  grade.  Add,  to  all  this,  an  iron  will, 
and  a  resolution  that  quailed  before  no  difficulty  and  no 
foe ;  we  have,  if  not  the  very  model  of  a  statesman,  one  at 
least  who  could  not  only  inspire  confidence  in  the  doubting, 
but  lead  his  countrymen  through  any  crisis. 

There  is  no  doubt  that  he  would  have  made  any  honor- 
able sacrifice  to  avoid  the  shedding  of  blood,  especially  in 
civil  strife ;  and  yet  it  is  true,  that,  rather  than  yield  the 
principles  involved  in  the  Indian  controversy,  he  would 
have  marshaled  the  whole  military  power  of  the  State,  and 
have  led  her  troops  to  victory  or  annihilation.  The  wonder 
is,  that  the  authorities  at  Washington,  who  were  not  igno- 
rant of  his  character,  or  of  the  people  of  C4eorgia,  could  have 
supposed  that  the  threat  of  military  coercion  would  cause 
him  or  them  to  falter  in  their  purpose.* 

*  There  is,  probably,  truth  in  the  statement  which  h;i-  hem  nm.lc.  that,  iu  u  cviivursatum 
between  GOT.  Troup  and  a  leading  Carolina  statesman  who  did  not  precisely  understand  the 
difference  in  the  position  of  Georgia  on  the  Indian,  and  that  of  Sonth  Carolina  on  th« 


I.IKK  OF1  CKOIUiK  M.  TRori'.  nf.   XIV. 

On  the  subject  of  "  intense^;  interest"  to  the  Southern 
people,  Gov.  Troup  spoke  in  IK.  equivocal  tones;  and  his 
writings  sh..\\-  his  decided  opposition  to  the  folly  of  forever 
arguing  a  question  wirieb  is  entirely  beyond  the  right  of 

Federal  interference.  Treating  it  as  such,  lie  was  always 
ready,  on  this  as  on  -n  ..f  undoubted 

right,  that  the  o  •  -ituti'-n  .  the 

"option  to  d<.  us  ju-tico,  ••]•.  refn-ing  it,  to  present  a  mil- 
itary chest  ami  armed  men." 

Of  his  religion-  M..t  much  is  known,  beyond  what 

is  disclosed  in  his  j:  and  correspondence.  Thesv 

show  a  deep  reverence  for  the  Supreme  Heing,  and  a  real- 
ixing  sense  of  the  pure  and  holy  truths  «,f  the  Christian 
religion.  He  made  no  public  profession  of  faith  ;  but  it  is 
evident  that  he  was  far  removed  from  the  taint  of  infidelity 
or  scepticism."""  lie  is  >aid  to  have  been  an  attendant 
on  the  services,  of  the  >anctuary,  when  opportunity  offered  : 
and  his  preference  is  lu-lieved  to  have  been  for  tlie  I'lpisco- 
pal  forms  of  worship. 

l!y  resolution  of  the  General  A>sembly.  adopted  in  1  >.">!, 
a  life-size  portrait  of  Governor  Troiip  has  been  painted,  and 
hangs  on  one  ride  of  the  President's  chair  in  the  Senate- 
Chamber  of  Georgia — the  portrait  of  General  John  Clark 
being  on  the  other.  That  of  <  jovenior  Troup  is  said  to  be 
an  exeellentlikcness.  The  engraved  likeness  in  this  volume, 
is  also  said  to  be  a  life-like  delineation  of  him,  who  was 
pronounced  by  a  devoted  and  discriminating  friend,  "a 
1  Ionian  in  feature,  and  a  Roman  in  soul.'' 

A  county  in  Georgia,  the  county  site  of  another,  a  ward 
and  <<juare  in  Savannah,  and  perhaps  other  places,  com- 
memorate the  name  of  TKOIT  :  but  his  enduring  monument 
is  the  love  of  the  people  of  Georgia  for  the  memory  of  one 
who  was  Jirst  in  their  affection-. 

Tnriff.  i|ii'-.-tion.  tin'  I'Tinrr 

nr;ini. 

*  An  intimate  t'rii ml  nf  i.  i.'in   "   H •'"*  man. 

Ull  '.!!••  iKTIl-i:.!!,  ;i-   I  iil     (M.Vllll.'r 

.1   il.iiitit  <>n 
Tlir  rf|ily  "  I' 

I't-iiv  f'"-  •  "— Kn. 


APPENDIX. 


[The  following  is  tho  letter  to  Major  John  H.  Howard,  noticed  in  the  thirteenth  chapter  of 
this  work.  The  "  namesake,"  to  whom  reference  is  made,  was  tho  late  Honorable  George  Troup 
Howard,  who  died  in  September,  1856.  The  letter  was  published  in  the  early  part  of  1834.] 


WASHINGTON,  February  10th,  1833. 

My  Dear  Sir :  Knowing  that  you  wish  to  possess  my  views  of  the  present  state  of  affairs, 
and  of  the  measures  connected  with  them,  I  sit  down  to  their  exposition,  with  tho  conviction, 
that,  whether  they  happen  to  be  in  accordance  with  your  own,  or  not,  they  will  receive  a  kind 
and  hospitable  treatment,  more  than  proportioned  to  their  deserts ;  and,  if  valueless,  be  dis- 
missed with  the  generosity  and  urbanity  so  congenial  to  your  nature  :  otherwise,  it  may  be  a 
little  legacy  to  your  son,  iny  name-sake,  who,  if  ho  inherit  the  patriotism  of  the  father,  and 
virtues  of  the  mother,  may  find  them  useful  to  him,  in  sustaining,  in  many  an  hour  o('  trial,  us 
wo  have  done,  tho  rights  of  the  States,  against  a  very  strong  Government  created  by  the 
States,  now  threatening,  by  a  most  unnatural  action,  to  cripple,  to  humble,  and  finally  to  de- 
stroy, its  creator,  which,  in  tho  natural  and  healthful  action  of  the  system,  would  be  also  its 
preserver. 

I  am  not  certain  that  you  are  aware  of  my  early  and  uniform  disrelish  of  the  doctrine  of 
Nullification,  as  maintained  by  the  ruling  party  in  a  sister  State.  My  objections  to  that 
doctrine  were  unconnected  with  party  of  any  kind,  and  were  founded  on  the  difficulty  of  recon- 
ciling the  peacefulness  and  constitutionality  which  it  asserted,  with  that  powerful  remedial  pro- 
cess, by  which  the  wheels  of  tho  Federal  Government  would  be  stopped,  as  well  as  that  resort 
to  construction,  (the  old  Federal  sin,)  by  which  alone  the  doctrine  could  bo  maintained,  which 
has  involved  us  in  all  our  troubles,  and  which  is  equally  good  at  any  time  to  establish  a  veto 
against  the  General  Government,  a  power  to  protect  manufactures,  or  a  power  to  doany  thing 
a  majority  in  Congress  pleases.  It  was  easy  to  perceive,  that  such  a  remedy  might,  by  pos- 
sibility, be  peaceful ;  that  depending  on  the  other  party  ;  but  not  certainly  peaceful.  It  was 
moro  difficult  to  see  how  it  could  be  constitutional,  because,  as  no  power  was  given  by  the 
Constitution  to  the  States  to  resist  the  laws  of  tho  United  States,  none  such  could  be  derived 
by  implication  or  construction  :*  the  derivation  of  remedies  or  powers,  by  construction,  being, 
according  to  the  republican  doctrines,  inadmissible.  Indeed,  no  Constitution  would  .iuthori/i> 
resistance  to  the  laws,  without  defining  explicitly,  how,  in  what  manner,  and  by  whom,  such 
resistance  could  be  lawfully  made.  It  is  assumed,  therefore,  that  thr  1,».-  routed; 

and  at  all  events,  according  to  the  stipulations  of  the  federal  compact.  15ut  who,  in  tho  last 
resort,  are  the  judges  of  these  stipulations  ?  None  are  created  by  tho  compact,  other  than  tho 
Courts  of  tho  United  States.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  Courts  of  the  United  States  must  be  con- 
fined to  judicial  cases,  to  the  exclusion  of  political  questions  between  sovereigns:  and,  so  f;ir, 


*  What  are  called  the  reserved  rights  or  powers  in  the  Constitution,  are  very  erroneously 
deemed  the  sovereign  power.  They,  on  tho  contrary,  are  only  those  rights  and  powers  which 
are  usually  exercised  by  governments,  or  enjoyed  by  the  people,  and  whirii  have  not  been 
given  to  tho  Federal  Government.  If  they  were  construed  to  mean  sovereign  power,  then, 
indeed,  it  would  follow, that  aState  had  conceded  a  portion  of  its  sovereignty  to  tho  Govern- 
ment of  the  United  States,  and  retained  only  a  portion  for  itself,  which  would  be  making  that 
Government  sovereign,  when  it  is  only  servant.  Sovereignty  protects  both  delegated  and  re- 
served powers,  but  is  neither  tho  one  nor  tho  other. 


JL  APPENDIX 

the  Courts  of  the   I'nitc -d.--  .i.imvunt   juri.-dii  lion.    '1  i 

two  or  more  States,"  m<>an  only  such  judicial  questions  as  are  presented  by  '•  cases  in  law  or 
fquity,''  to  which  their  jurisdiction  i-  limited  by  tin-  Constitution.  Political  controversies,  or 
questions  between  Govern ii:  .  intend. 'd.  tin  y  not  admittir.:,'  tln>  in- 

terpretation of  cases  in  law  or  f]uity ;  much   less  could  political  contri  »  n   tin- 

States  and   Federal  Gove:  '   they  not  bi  i 

etitutiun  as  parties  in  .my  catea. 

It,  tli  :iro\-i  iM'--<  1  'it  tribunal  luu<borii estab- 

lished for  their  adjustment,  we  > 

parties— if  to  one,  whi<  h  i  <  :ii.  \vhy?     H  thepartie*wi  -P' equal  in  a;. 

non  would  prescribe  equal  participation  in  the  ;nlju-tiiK-nt.  which  \\ould  be  mi  adjiistnifiit  by 
negotiation.  If  tlii-;.  •!•  «.i>  in  pn\\.-r  mill  authority  Mipi -ii  <r  to  tin 

proportioned  to  th:n 

the  United    State.",    thin   equality.  i\*  they  both  rc]>r. 

Buperi".  ..•  ,.(  tii.-  in 

Hcntati  n,  in  mas-;,   am^niil  only  to  the 

powers  of  dtlO.-OViT  ,mi'  nt     •  I    (I.       In 

from    t;  .;i.   in    tip-    1  tlic    .quality 

betwe' ;  quiil    iiorticij.ation    in    the 

adjostment  <  i   may  nri.v   U't\vr.-n  tin  in.     J'.i^ 

the  Government  ol"  ' 

equality,  tho  same  smnvijr.ty  b  • . 

each  other  of  create 

without  appeal:  sti  i  tin'  ino-t  :!-lly.    :>11  it> 

|  r;elll'-Ilt",    til 

solemn  import,  not  en^i;.  nmcnt  ol  ti. 

States  in  iiothiji^  Imt   n^iirernm 
States;"  aii'l  G 

States.    It  is  in  >jitn..  of  r 

virtuo  .  iii;,t   tin    i  i,, 

1:1   on,'    in,,.  i.ninity 

a«  another,  u  reaae   or  iliininntion  :  ii  i-an  onl; 

•    .nMitniioiH 

eman:r  !,t  fi-om  the  .-MM.  whieh   ],:irts  willi   it   ron-<tant]v.  witlmir 

being  i 

sure,  ninl  kn  r    |IU|     |ii\ii,  •.,   but  tli''  uii  i'V  that 

Divinity,  wb! 
mode  «l'  actiiui  ot  i 

conduct   of  tin;  agent  or  -  ment.      If  the    WTO 

either  with  tv 
If  it  can  abolish  or  chan;;  •  tlic  rn 

Adiii" 

I 

which  creal'  '1  th<-  .  i  M^t.   tin-  raii-cs  \\liii  h  sha'1 

good  to 

other  .  .  .  il.     J'.itt.   although  :>  Si.- 

not  for  'iiiriu,  it  may  throw  it  otf:  it  may 

it   may,  by  its  own  \uliti'-.. 
good  ami  jnstiliaM  ••:npacl 

•:..tt  compact:  many  of  \\liirh  IMII-C-  ;o 

I'.und  in  that  imlilii-  lav/,  «Iii'  Ii  i    the  lli\in  •  U\v,  \iliicli  is  the   law  of  ri.u'ht  and  ju.-t 
which  beiux  Hi,'  parammtitt  law,   i^asrontrollin:;  ovrr  roiin. 
eign  itself.     Let  it  not  be  r-aidthat  lli.'(;o\rrnui'-nt  i.f  the  L'no 
i-<  paramount    ;  .<  e«mpoiin<l  of  all  tl> 


APPENDIX.  m 

it  is  repeated:  admits  of  no  degrees.  It  is  the  same  iu  a  M.iall  siato  us  in  a  great  cue;  the 
same  iu  the  State  of  Delaware  or  Rhode  Island,  as  in  the  greatest  community.  It  is  said  that 
the  States  have  parted  with  many  of  their  sovereign  powers,  as  th?  power  to  make  war— the 
power  to  make  treaties,  the  power  to  regulate  foreign  commerce,  .to.,  &<•.,  Ac.  But  this  is 
a  mistake;  they  have  not  parted  with  them:  they  have  merely  authorized  the  common  agent 
to  exercise  them,  under  prescribed  rules  and  limitations:  the  powers  themselves  residing  in 
the  States,  and  inseparable  from  them  as  independent  communities.  It  is  true,  the  Constitu- 
tion speaks  of  powers  granted  and  powers  reserved  ;  hut  this  only  m>  aus  powers  of  the  Stato.* 
to  he  exercised  by  the  Government  of  the  United  Staffs,  and  powers  of  the  States  to  be 
exercised  by  the  States.  And.  with  regard  to  the  powers  prohibited  to  the  General  Govern- 
ment and  to  the  States,  it  is  only  a  declaration  by  each  to  i '  .-,  s,  that  it  will  not 
•.itself,  nor  permit  the  exercise  by  the  eommui  h  powers— the  sovereignty 
still  retaining  the  unity  and  indivisibility  which  are  essential  to  it,  and  which  are  indestructible. 
The  fundamental  error  has  been  to  consider  the  United  States  as  s-lf-existent,  and  independent. 

•••.  ,'i-eign.  a<  a  party  to  ;i  compact  betv.  hie  of  impan. 

well  as  receiving  sovereign  powers  under  stipulated  .  !,:it  this  error  i.s  dissipated 

•  imply  by  asking,  what  is  the  United  States?  Territorially  speaking,  there  is  no  such  separate 
and  identical  thing  as  tin-  United  States.  (i  Cnit.'dStMes."  in  ib  preamble  to  the  Constitution, 
means  the  thirteen  f-ov-'ivi^n  and  independent  Slat*  d  and  limited 

purposes  therein  expressed.  The  same,  words  WtM  u-ed  in  the  article-;  of  confederation,  one 
of  which  asserted  expressly  the  absolr  !i  State— in  this  sens;'  it  was 

universally  understood  by  th-  States  immediately  a!'.  uion  of  the  Constitution — 

for  when  it  was  aitempted  to  bring  one  of  the 

States,  it  va-i  indignantly  resented  by  all  of  th'".n  as  an  insult,  and  the  Constitution  was  so 
amended,  (and,  I  think,  by  unanimous  con-  -i;t.)  as  io  prevent  the  possibility  of  its  recurrence. 
••We.  the  people."'  means  tin-  people  of  tin'  several  States,  who  alone  were  competent  to  ordain 

;. -iblis.il  constitutions  of  government,  whether  for  the.  management  of  foreign  or  domes- 
*tic  concerns.  If  Xew  Hampshire  and  Georgia  had  not  ratified  the  Constitution,  they  miirlit 
have  confederated  and  adopted  the  same  Constitution,  in  precisely  the  same  words.  We,  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  What  States?  The  several  .-  m  Ilampshir 

Georgia,  "  united"  for  certain  defined  purposes,  do  "  ordain  and  e>tubli.-h"  this  Constitution,  &c. — 
•'united"  having  reference  to  Stat"S.and  not  tothepeople-andthe  words  "ordain  and  establish,'' 
having  reference  to  people  and  not  to  t  •  '.' iy,  further,  Georgia  or  Xew  Hampshire 

might,  each  of  them,  have  formed  two  .  ::ud  two  constitutions,  the  one  for  the 

conduct  of  its  foreign  relations,  the  other  for  the  conduct  of  its  domestic,  on  the  same 
principles,  and  with  the  same  powers  as  their  present  State  and  !  ::ments;  yet 

no  one  would  believe,  that,  in  the  lirst  case,  the  p  !•  and  the  people  of  Xew 

Hampshire  were  one  people,  or  that,  in  the  last,  either  State  had  parted  with  its  sovereignty 
to  one  or  both  governments;  it  would  still  p  M  to  alter,  new  model  or 

destroy  both.  The  nature  and  extent  of  the  powers  delegated,  could  not  impair  the  sover- 
eignty of  the  States.  If  the  convention  had  delegated  all  powers,  Executive,  Legislative  and 
.Judicial,  to  Gen.  Washington  and  his  sueev.--.nrs  forever,  the  sovereignty  of  the  States  would 
have  remained  entire.  When  the  monarchists  of  the  Convention,  who  labored  the  destruction  of 
State  sovereignty,  had  thrown  everything  into  disorder,  and  Dr.  Franklin  had  advised  tin- 
Con  vention  to  go  to  praying,  and  the  members  were  returning  home  in  despair  of  anything 
being  accomplished  but  mischief.  Gunning  Bedford,  a  noble  patriot  of  the  now  misrepresented 
or  apostate  State  of  Delaware,  turned  the  fortune  of  the  day.  by  warning  them,  if  they 
to  touch  the  sovereignty  of  his  State,  that  State  would  call  in  the  aid  of  foreign  powers  to 
protect  her  sovereignty;  and  so  the  Constitution  passed,  explicitly  recognizing  that 
tignty,  by  the  organization  of  the  Senate;  and  not  in  the  least  impairing  it  by  the  represen- 
tation of  the  people  of  each  State  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  Politically  speaking, 
there  is  no  such  being  as  the  United  States:  distinct  from  the  States,  no  such  community 
or  people.  There  is  such  a  thing  as  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  an  artificial 
creature,  an  incorporeal  hereditament— but  a  government  is  not  a  nation,  or  a  people,  or  a 
community,  any  more  than  it  is  a  sovereign. 

The  Constitution,  to  be  sure,  speaks  of  "we  the  people;"  but  it  only  means  the  people  of  the 
States  who  formed  that  Constitution,  and  who  were  the  only  rightful  framers  of  Constitu- 


APPENDIX. 


tiaaa,  A*aa*aaiaa*  or  eoaaamaity,  they  have  aevarpaHaraMdaaiagle  act  either  to  originate  the 
Government  ar  to  carry  it  on,  nor  will  they  nor  can  they,  perform  any  to  end  it— nosach  people 
i  formad,  bat  by  bnaldagap  aB  the  eomanaitie*  caDed  the  State*, 
me  maai.  ahkh  aerrr  coaM  be  done  bat  by  fcrca  or  coaae  • 

k  of  •  •aiiirfn  brta*aa  the  United  State*  aad  foreisn  State*— bat  they  art  only  web, 
aa»  they  ata  the  bmiaaarha  batweaa  the  BtaUa  aad  aaeh  JJtiaa  power*.    The  Govern- 
t  of  the  C.  &,  if  the  bmiaimrfc  •  were  taefri,  eoaM  attar  theai  at  phamre,  which  it  cannot 
it  canaot  aeqwr*  territory  within  a  State,  for  the  erection  of  needful  bnfldinpi.  without 
;  and  then  may  ban  ao  jarftaBetfoa  withia  the  anac,  if  withheld  by 
:  of  the  United  State*,  U,  ia   fact,  a  corporat' 

• 

Mt  be  Tfatatod  bat  at  the  riakaf  ivtttar*.  of  which  t  he  Mvrreiga  creating 
itott  iiaajililil  toaa»5tatoto)adgaef  the  Tiobttioa  of  the  charter 

ia  Tlrtne  of  the  anM  aorereigBty,  bat  tbe 
•  i-.  it  woaU  be  too  liable  to  abaae ;  l\. 

,  by  eaprktoas  aad  bregvbvr 
-:• 


to  a  MTCKfcB  State,  it  to  tak-n  Jbr  pr*n  ted  that  nch 
witl  not  r*r*mL  it,  wffl  art  from  tb»  whim  «r 
>  of  the  moment.    Bvt  tkk  to  aot  th«  hiMery  of  Statn  ;  ot 

•     i-  -  -       .    .'  :        t  .   -. 

s  regard  to  their  own  tr»e  interesti.    Jtotr,  wfcat  to  the  utroegcX 

• 

and  bow  king  woold  the  Cnlon  bst  »—  jn«t  M  long  M  it  wonld  take  the  9tat«,  c-aun?  to  hnw 
:  to  O*  Union,  to  withdraw  from  ft.  It  ta  the  beauty  of  the  *y«tnn.  wbOe  it  M  the 
i  «ar  tti  perptaity,  that  each  Stale  fc  left  tj  par*u»  ite*w«  tetarwt,  in  it* 
of  tt«  CaiteJ  Btrto,  which  ttht»  ifc^lf  mMtftmted,  to 
protect  it  from  «3re%«  pr/w?ri  itrons^r  than  iaeir,  and  to  let  it  ak»e  ta  all  matter,  which  it 
h»<  Mot  fpecWIy  confided  to  ft»  eaW.  lbw4Mtr«Bt  fa  thii  f  rom  the  hfc*  of  kceptegtfae  State. 


rbyfcic*    to  taey- luayfhn  >y  fcrre,  tfco»e  who  were  broBght  together  by  eon^ 
keep  Coion  by  tree,  to  keen  amity  by  Arc*,  to  keep  brottailj  lor  ,  -*j.  peace  by 

force:    It  fa  ilK«r<,  «»4  fcrtaMtdy  It  hi  at  bapOMftli  a«U  faabacrd.    If  ariBgJeState.rtaBd- 
tof  •*«•  berw*m*c^y,naM>tbei»TMloo  of  her  right*,  tkfc  i*  not  to  be  ewtared,  became 


it  endanger!  the  Union.  If  aoaM  half  doaea  State*  tmi*e  and  axede,  thia>  tiwagh  it  «o  far 
amaaNai  the  Pafaa,  maat  be  »abaUtted  to,  b^eiaan  it  cannot  be  walated.  Bo  that  tbe  rkhtfal- 
aaasof  taree  iryiaai,  aot  on  the  rightftilaeai  of  the  c«a*e,  bat  oa  the  relatfre  atrength  aad 

»iatai*>  of  the  aartkv.    Bat  let  n*  we  what  are  the  nat are  aad  extent  of  th«  rfek  aad 
danger  to  d»  Unfcn,  of  admitting  the  right  of  a  State  to  repoat  ftarif  apoa  it*  eoTvreigaty, 
to  reai*  an  aggreaaoa  by  the  Gorernmeat  of  the  United  ?tat«.    The  aaager  and  rfck  anat 
be  ana*  ait  i  by  the  probable  trtqaeacy  of  it*  letarreatc:  bow  often  ba*  it  oecwred  riaee  the 
date  of  the  Union,  aad  how  often  i*  ft  likely  to  occor  f    Sareiy,  it  to  not  iateadvd  to  d* 
State  the  right  wbJeh  to  grrea  to  the  worm,  the  rizht  todefmd  it^lCand  to  preaerr 
thK  iadeed,  ««a»t»  with  the  denial  of  all  aaTeretjnty.  l,ot  I  traat  that  in  onr  downward 
eoorae  to  the  grare,  we  hare  not  reached  a  point  »/ near  iu  brink.    A  Sate  ha*  eagagr. 

----•-.--..        •  -  .       -•    -     •  

moa  agent  abanWaatfcutUed  to  do,  toi  their  aaaae  and  ia  virtas  of  their  authority,  cwtoto 
other  Thing*     Here,  thca,  to  a  contract,  teroMng  right*  aad  obligation*  oa  the  «*ce 
parporte  to  be  acrpataal  aad  frreroeabfe ;  bat  to  it  *o  ia  met?    Can  It  be  ao  between  iade- 
ataawat  coauaaaitie*,  who  are  boaad,  by  the  bw*  of  God  and  nature,  to  protect  aad  defend 
tJtaaMiiJL*,  to  take  can  of  their  f/wa  bipploi**  aad  tetenato— are  tbea*  r  aaaaiittke  to  be 
boaad, feaamini i alhiu  to^a«ia<i*a, aJtb»alt>epo**BitBtyaf  fladiag abieUUoii  ?    I 
nrftted  to  w  of  the  preaent  degenerate  d»y,  to  diamberit  Boatrrity,  by  *ea*ng  down  to  it  a 
WTO,  debased  a.«i  abraded  ahfllii^,  wnieh  they  canno-- refc*.  bat  at  the  peril  of  the- 1 
?fo— ereTygeaaradOBBwat  tab  caw  of  toeKaad  by  an  the  moral,  political  aad  pbyaical  foro. 
it  eaa ;  alway*  bond  by  the  gratt  law  of  eternal  taatfae,  which  it  to  not  penatttedtoiadMdaaii 
or  eaaaaamtfaa  to  *Vi*H    balmatiaiU.aad  nr*j  g-r-nf  can  be  vialated  by  comatmaimai, 
t  of  that  aapnaM  tew.    thto  happens  when  the  *oiren<ga  JadgM  that  the 
•*..;  ..-.•  -  ••   -  •        -.-.     •  ,:  -     .          •  - 


required  c.f  it  tSera-ards,  bat  to  repair  waatulu   injary  or  damagi  it  may  hare  done  talk* 
parties  interested,  of  which,  of  coar*,  they  are  thajaagea  m  «roal  degree,  in  Tirtue  of  the 

--::          :.:::-••        .  ;      :.-.:. v-.     :;      :       ir .  .    .     ,-  :  .        .--_..__..       v.     ._  __  . 

perpetaal,  only  means  that  it  abail  be  m  aadcr  th*  a^aer  and  capreme  law,  which  penaa 

the  parties  to  wa^t  their  salety,  kappiaeaa  and  mterest.    Bat  with  regard  to  the  right*  of 

the  other  parties:    What  can  they  do?    As  arereigns  they  can  demand 

can  go  to  war;  they  caa  annihilate  the  party  rest-ting— they  may  satisfy 

they  may  not  compel  that  party  to  and  Senators  a 

of  President  w  in  electoral  College.    If  the  party  make  an  the  i 

::-  :-•        -.-..:.-  --   :.'.    .   .-     .-        I--:--;     :.:_•-:    1 


--'  -     •  .::.--..;...--:        .  -      -  -  .:  .....  :      .       _.        .  --    _-_.     : 

who  woald  thea  be  the  arattcrs  Mw«ai  the  party  Ane  VIM&  a»d  tk*  pwty  stfer- 


.  bat  eertaiBly  «o«  by  any  p«ww  of  tie 


«9C8  af  the  States:  aad  theCbagreea,  fike  the  prena*  Qmgreas, had  tha  paver  to  doctoral 

.•>t  beiievevi  to  be  a  power  to  declare  war  against  a  Staie.    Tka  i 
^olre-i  to  ni.tk-- »  i/  : '  r  •.:..••;.•—•.'•  •.  am  -.-.  r.  kttal  U      aM  6  aocaawat  • 

- 

se^tfae^wvr  wtk-h  the  Confederation  had  aoC  to  coerce  iadtriiaaU.  This  power  it  amply 
fttmauLU,  for  afl  aataariart  pwpiam.  and  more  tta»  Ah  it  canjaot  daa*.  In  the  exercise  of 
this  power,  it  can  procsed  to  any  extremity  which  the  Constitatioa  aatliMJ»ii  Bat  it  ia 
pnx^>Sastothat«xtremity,iteaoi«attnas90TeRa^po<B«raCa  State,  it  mast  atop,  ae- 
«asB9«  it  is  a  mere  Government  withoat  sovereignty,  artiag  against  a  sorereiga  power.  It  • 
true,  that,  if  the  action  and  counter  action  proceed  from  tie  two  Comments  merely,  and 
not  from  the  »ovet%ign  pawar,  tt»  ftdmal  Co^arumiaf  has  tha  adiaanpi  nsaJting  from  the 
•t%i«lafiumt  of  the  compart,  which  ita  o^a  Quarts,  ia  aU  caaes  m 
if  the  State,  actia?  by  conrraition  of  the  whole  people,  shall  throw  i 
the  other  party  may  aot  proceed  witkoa«aa  act  of  war.  It  b  not  admitted  that  tbe  Cw»- 
gress  has  power  to  declare  war  agaimst  a  State.  Otaer  Stataa  may  i.  aafcia  i  to  declare  it,  hat 

K>  as  MTereigas.  to  enfcrw  stipamtiow  of  thecontrsr:,  if  they  pjease,  «r  &r  any 
ether  pwrposes  they  please.  If  they  decfatfa  war  and  sabjagate  a  Stata,  they  may  dirtde  it 
_  :  •  L\  .:-  .  :  .  •  -  -  •  .  '-  -  -'-•  -  -r  :.  -.  .r  :'_. 

v./  -      ;  -.    r  A:         •-..--•       1      .    •-          •--'.:•          ..-•:...:  -       .  :  .-    :        -  .    - 

otaerwije  thaa  as  prisoners  of  wir.    Bat  it  »  said  that  the  powen<omicrr«d  bythe 


contrary.  cvtwithstanding—d»as  mirilag  th*  •athority  of  th* 

perior  to  that  of  the  States— and  this  is  all  true:  bat  who* 
Y»hr.  theaoTerefea  wJuc*  Mrfaiiuil  fcotn  CaaUaatfian     Mightaetthe 

:  bat  snparicrity  to  the  StaKN  OTW  the  United  States  ConstiratioB  !  Certainly.  They 
are  both  alike  the  e»«a*ar«8of  ttattoren^a,  wao  Matt  aMaUaarimmte  tea  aft  ita  wJL, 
wMM«ImMHtiM«rratna^«ta«r  taaa  by  the  rnws  of  God  aadaatar.. 

-ut^a  by  the  sovereign  power  of  a  State,  which  decides  tkat  the  law 
with:  •         iht- right  to  take  care  of  itself?    It  decides  a  law  to  be  nnll  and  TCM 

Jlayu  f  which  the  Coostitatjon  is  bat  an  emaaatijo.  *>  decide  it  ?    Wkyartas 

- 

reUtiva  to  the  sovereign,  Vat  as  a  uuTaat  «r«f«M?    H«««i  ta«fc,  w  an  exercise  of  *»wia%a 

?       ' 

wcaMcJteerfaaytrm^ta«aVicigfaatoa»Sa»wa»ttmr^^em^^ 
byth»aSMtCMat«aay^iaMiamurt(wMAiaitfaaim.atiitedf«c*«^ayta^a9»r^^ 


I»  the  Cmited  StK 


•rmaent?    Tbjrf  dvvtrine  has  bog  sine*  been  frptodeO. 


APPENDIX.  VI 

,  of  the 

people:  '-von  th"  mmlern  puM!--  law  r^anls  tl 
seven: 

ti»IJ.       '; 

treaB<>: 

•VS,  till.' 

ation  express! 

any  qualifier,;  ilmowt  all  tli 

tlii-iu  in  tin-  \  -siu  tin.- 

- 

soveri-i 
1'Y  !!.• 
lost  In 
hail  £•": 

On  t: 

iternal 

rolatk'i:  l 

baMMMWMk,Md      '    :       •      f>    i      •     .      •      Q]    •  :  -  •  :    a,     rgetting ita obligatioo  M  •' 

Stato*  in  virtue  <•!'  i'J  h>>\ 

i   i,.  I    h.tvi-    . 

uith.mt  ili-fluitioii. 
it  wonl-i 

' 

«  hi'.'h 

Miily,  ami  not  mi  tl, 
-.'  man 

- 

crci^'ii  in  !lt.-  i  teat  vitli  th.-it 

uhii-h  ',  u..uM  1«-  :i  | 

I'.y   whk-li   a   r-irnii-r 
firtuu-  :iiU-r.  witlii.i: 

ronccivi-  a  tyranny   r 

^iiint    rcrtain 

'.lit  to  t!n  :n—  • 
with  a  tix.-ih.' 

until  on  r.     In  this  • 

find  our  '  •  -T.nni'l.    1'T   the 

purpose  of  dcci'liiii;  \\lnil! 

p.ll  oth'T 

*  No:  .''  which  ran- 

relative  ton  singular  noun:  t. in  TK-  :io  an 

act  of  treason  could  1  Ji  umild  n«.t  li"   EugliHli,   to  nay,  in  tho  Constitution  of 

France,  treason  shall  c«i:i>i-t   in  Irvyinjr  war  acr.iin-t  France,  and  adhering  to  r 
— the  won),  iti  nr  hrr.  w.nild  liav"  IK-PII  . 


APPENDIX. 


VII. 


above  all,  their  right  of  sovereignty,  without,  \vhich  they  consid-r  themselves,  as  (ill  the  world 
must'coflsider  thorn,  nothing  more  than  petty  corporations,  the  members  of  which  are  bound  to 
the  Government  of  the  United  States,  by  a  paramount,  indissoluble  allegiance,  in  virtue  of  which, 
they  are  (members,  officers  and  all,)  amenable  to  it,  on  charges  of  high  treason,  and  punish- 
able accordingly.    I  think,  according  to  tho  doctrines  of  the  day,  the  most  important  right 
conceded  to  them  in   the   right  to    petition  and   remonstrate.     Having  thus  degraded  the 
States,  they  resolve  to  draw  thoHword:  for  one,  I  cannot  go  with  (hem.     I  cannot  go  with 
them,  until  I  satisfy  myself,  that  in  all  things  they  are  strictly  right :  as  long  as  there  is  a 
shadow  or  suspicion  of  wrong,  I  will  not  go  with  them  to  shed  blood.    If  they  were  right 
beyond  doubt,  I  would  defer  it  to  the  last  moment,  and  then  I  would  execute  tho  laws  only 
against  those  who  unlawfully  resist   them;  against  those   who   resist  by  commission  and 
minority  from  a  State,  I  would  nol.     V"ii  slicd  blood  without  executing  tho  laws,  becar, 
force  tho  State  oiit  of  the  Union,  and  place  her  out  of  tho  reach  of  the  laws.    Let  those  who 
please  to  indulge  in  the  revery  of  keeping  this  Union  by  force,  go  on  in  their  mad  < 
Deity  can  do  any  thing :    It  can  arrest  tho  motion  of  the  planets,  and  turn  tho  sun  into  blood ; 
it  can  extinguish  tho  fixed  stars,  and  make  darkm's-  cuver  thu  faro  of  tln<  heavens;  but   it  i 
infinitely  more  easy  for  Deity  to  accomplish  this,  than  for  the  (lovn  , 
to  keep  in  its  orbit,  against  its  will,  one  of  tho  States  of  this  Union. 

Let  the  State,  therefore,  )io  ever  so  vicious  or  wicked  in  iis  d>  -i;;n.,.  i  \\,,u!u  !'.,Hirar  the 
resort  to  bloody  measures,  leaving  her  peaceably  to  depart  tho  Union,  as  a  nufcnn<-' 
gotten  rid  of,  or  a;>  a  prodigal,  tho  repentant  return  of  which  to  the  fold,  might  one  <: 
hoped  for.  But  how  different  is  tho  actual  state  of  things !  Four  millions  of  people  .-.in- 
plain  of  the  injustice  and  unconstitutionally  of  the  laws,  and  we  are  ready  to  shed  blood  in 
their  defence.  These  laws  are  founded  on  asserted  power  to  regulate  tho  industry  of  the 
country.  Now,  if  such  a  power  is  sustained  for  the  Oii'-ral  <!ov<  rnment,  nothing  can  render 
that  Government  more  worthless  and  insupportable  in  the  contemplation  of  all  the  American 
people,  opposed  to  restraints,  monopolies  and  privileges  ;  and  it  may  expect,  of  course,  thai 
entire  portion  of  them  to  be,  embodied  against  it.  They  would  as  soon  think  of  making  a 
Turkish  bashaw  tho  regulator  of  their  industry,  as  the  Congress  of  the  United  States;  and 
for  tho  simple  reason,  that,  for  flagrant,  abu.-.es  one  could  bo  made  responsible;  win  Teas,  tin- 
Congress,  by  its  multitude,  is  as  irresponsible  as  the  most  multitudinous  assembly,  where  the  inno- 
cent cannot  be  separated  from  the  guilty;  and  tho  public  vengeance,  ii  it  fall  at  all,  must  full 
alike  upon  the  just  and  the  unjust.  Why  is  it,  therefore,  that,  on  a  disputed  question  of  doubt- 
ful right,  or  justice,  or  constitutionality,  Congress  will  run  the  hazard  of  o  civil  war, 
when,  by  an  easy  operation,  not  costing  them  four  days,  they  can  adjust  tl;  Th<- 

Union  is  to  be  lost  by  a  squeamish  delicacy,  ora  reckless  ob:;tin:u-y.     Ti:     l,ill!puii.".n  v 
yield  to  tho  Brobdignag,  and  the  Erobdignag  will  not  make  a  concuss! -'ii  of  justice  to  the  Lilli- 
putian.    Tho  twenty-three  States  say  to  the  twenty -fourth,  if  we  do  i^'t  take  yotir  blood  as  an 
atonement  and  propitiation  for  the  rashness  and  intemperance  of  your  conduct,  w.-  will 
down  in  history  as  cowards.  Shame!  Shame!  Is  it  not  enough  forth.'  stability  of  the  Union,  that 
the  laws  will,  in  ordinary  cases,  be  peacefully  executed  by  th° 
traordinary  cases,  they  will  be  enforced,  by  all  means,  against  unlawful  obstructions  and  ;, 

.  To  attempt  their  execution,  by  military  power,  against  ft  8tW 

bywhich  a  State  can  be  drivenfrom  the  Union.  A  single  State  will  not  withdraw,  until  rendered 
desperate  by  the  madness  or  tyranny  of  the  General  Government.    A 
maintain  her  independence  ;  and,  therefore,  could  not  hope  long  to  maintain  her  liberty.     H,  t 
rights  and  obligations,  as  an  isolated  sovereign,  would  devolve  on  her  very  great 
expose  her  to  difficulties  and  troubles  from  which  thfl  «n  ^"lll(1  ''•"'   '•-'•""I't  "'••'•• 

The  Union  is  much  more  exposed  to  danger,  by  a  combination  of  States,  who  could  niaintuii 
independence  and  liberty,  at  a  cheaper  rate,  and  with  better  security  against  vexations  and 
humiliating  annoyances  from  abroad;  and,  when  such  combinations  happen,  what  v 
denial  of  the  right  to  secede  avail  ?    Would  they  take  sides  with  thirteen  weak  £•'  i  i 
eleven  strong  ones,  and  make  war  to  preserve  the  Union?    This  would,  \ 
puissant  Government  in  a  light  of  no  enviable,  majesty  and  supremacy,  and  is  only  an  in 
among  very  many  of  analogous  character,  to  show  how  much  this  Union  must  depend,  for  it.- 
duration,  upon  moderation  and  mutual  concession.    The  poi 

State*  oiUcers,  in  all  cases  which  may  arise  under  tho  laws  of  the  United   States,  by  ni 
for  the  United  States  Courts.  nehMta  .-rinmu.l  jurisdiction,  even  where  the  parties  are  citizens 


APPENDIX- 

of  the  can  U-  d.-rived  iueriminal  ra,*i*,  but  by  construction: 

and  thus  it  is,  in  a  criMj  lik  •  the  present,  the  criiuin:il  jurisdiction  of  a  .State,  always  contem- 

w  a  paramount  interest,  u  attempted  to  be  wrested  from  it,  and  transferred  to  the  party 

whose  long  and  continued  infract!  -titutinn,  in  ,,ther  ret-per:-,  have  produced  thi^ 

an  criminal  as  well 

:  cases,  the  power  mny  be  claimed  t»  aul!  -,11  of  n  State, 

of  an  act  of  treason  against  th:it  Sti;.  an  1   «li.i   would  N- MIP-   to  find  his  justification  and 
ii.-.iiiit:al  hi-fore  tlie  tribunals  of  the  I'm  .  ,  Iu-e  to  a  law 

which  they  were  bound  to  adju<K  Now   what   i-   tin- 

amount  of  all  this  ? 
li-t.    That  •  ;  i>\  Hi.- 

Mi-  United  S' 
That  it  has  all  the  means  adrai-- 

i-iVllble 

from  no  other  source;  that  .  :::idiuiini-hed 

— ih  •  (ioTerumont  acting  as  a  comui'Mi  .                              rtj  them  into   eUVct. 

4tu.    That.  '  •      .;h  their 

fxecu;:  .:ntioii  \\liicli  i-i-.iif.-i>    tli-m:   whieli  i«  i! 

:ind  snbnrilii!..  i  it. 

;i  all  rt-gpcct-. 
:ind  according  to  tip   (••nns  and  letti  r  ••!'  th-  .  -.d  to  Inllil  it-i 

-tivo 

Cth.     Thai  which  results  from  a  ftill  higher  authority,  th.-    l;iw  i.f    (J.  d  und  jiaUiti,   by 
wliich  i  I'ound  (,>  wa: 

7th.     That  when.  : 
ami  iritiTe-t- 

publi.; 

law  when  the  :-..-t;on  .-hiili 
f\\M  liave  been  unconstitutional,  null,  and  void. 

iii.-nl-.  stii-ulati.  n-  or  OUti  kind,  but  with  t'r 

d  undi-r  the  I.  •  of  the  public  law,  whirh  admits  niany  i-au-.-  of  ju^l 

forth.-  n  m-ol  iservance.    non-fulflllmcnt  or  violation,  of  the  most  That  it 

•  iti'Mi  (.liotil-l  •  :  but  t'i>it  i 

•i;i:itnral  nnd 

-  and  just  to  ronlld>-  the  nl:  Itl  nnd 

the  compart  ,  otlicr 

tribunal,  tin-  tir-t  bein^  ind"ed  snprem'-.  and  the  la.«t  only  the  creature  .  .  whoso 

mu-t.  linally.  from  the  nature  of  thin. 
oil. 

10th.     That  the  (.'•  :dy  on  foreign 

.  and  not  upo  that  if  not  co.   tie-   <iovernuient    of  the    I  ni- 

:'  of  all,  minht  U- found   on   th«-  .-ide   (.ft«.l\  .in::  war  air:ii 

oilier  twelvo :  thus  illu.-tratinp  it^  jiaternil  eare   over   union,  jn-ti'-e,   ilninestic   tranquillity, 
'imrrated  in  the  preumbl"  to  th--  Ci.n-tiiution.  nnd  all  in  the 

llth.     That  the  a!'  :im:try  and    |Mra:nounl,   i;-  du.   to  tin-  > 

sovi-n-i^n.     That   •.!•  •  rnment.  a.- i'  and,  M 

;  lined  by  tic-  -  -id.    of  course  no  oliedienn-  ean   '  the  (iovern- 

.  i;inco  due  tho  wiver'-ign. 

I'-Ith.     That,  admitting  the  above  pr  be  tru.-,  tin-  »;..v<  rnment  of  the  United 

.:ii.-nt  in  tli<- world,  for  all  the  ]/urp«!-es  for  which  it  wa«  con- 
stituted—that  be.inj;a<!overnment  founded  on  consent,  and  supported  by  opinion,  it  must. 
to  be  sustained  by  that  consent  and  opinion,  be  just  and  righteous ;  that  it  can  B' 


APPENDIX.  IX 

jnst  and  righteous,  b  >  long  as  its  action  conforms  to  the  strict  letter  of  the  Constitution — that 
the  slightest  departure  from  that  letter,  is  an  abuse,  whether  it  amounts  to  usurpation,  or  the 
exercise  of  doubtful  powers,  and  may  mid  will  givo  rise  to  complaint,  to  discontent,  and  with 
a  people  so  enlightened  and  free  as  ours,  eventually  to  resistance. 

13th.  That  a  State,  for  the  violation  of  the  articles  of  compact,  is  responsible  under  the 
public  law  to  the  other  States,  and  may,  as  between  sovereigns,  be  compelled  to  make  repara- 
tion for  any  injury  or  damage  which  may  ensue  to  them  in  consequence  of  such  violation  ; 
and  that  this  is  one  of  tho  great  securities  against  hasty  and  precipitate  action  on  the  part  of 
the  St-'tes. 

14th.  That  the  words,  "  wo  the  people,"  in  the  Constitution,  are  to  be  construed  as  mean- 
ing tho  people  of  tho  several  States,  who  alone,  in  virtue  of  their  sovereignty,  were 
capable  of  forming  Governments;  and  that  all  the  powers  conferred  by  all  of  thorn  on  the 
Federal  Government,  as  well  as  all  tho  powers  retained  to  be  exercised  by  themselves,  are  only 
sn.  i  power?  as  <  ach  State  would  have  possessed  and  exercised,  if  there  had  been  no  Constitu- 
tion or  Union :  and,  therefore,  that  the  Federal  Government  has  no  more  authority  than  it 
would  have  had.  if  the  same  powers  had  been  conferred  by  a  single  Stnte. 
Your  affectionate  friend. 

<•.  M.  TROCP. 

[At  the  annual  session  of  1832,  the  General  Assembly  of  Georgia  adopted  a  preamble,  looking 
to  an  amendment of  tho  Federal  Constitution,  in  the  matter  of  "  the  principle  involved  in  a 
Tariff  for  the  direct  protection  of  domestic  industry,"  and  "  a  system  of  Federal  taxation," 
which  should  be  "  equal  in  its  operation,"  <fec.;  and  it  passed  a  resolution,  making  "  application 
to  the  Congress  of  tho  United  States,  for  the  call  of  a  convention  of  the  people,  to  amend  the 
Constitution  aforesaid,  in  the  particulars  herein  enumerated,  and  in  such  others  as  the  people 
of  the  other  States  may  deem  needful  of  amendment."  It  was  in  reference  to  this  action  of 
the  Legislature,  that  the  following  letter  to  Major  John  Moore,  of  Oglethorpe  county,  was 
written.  It  was  published  in  the  Southern  Recorder,  of  30th  January,  1833.] 

AVASHIKGTOX,  Dec.  26th,  1832. 

Dear  Sir  :    What  could  have  induced  our  people  to  think  of  holding  a  general  convention  of 
the  States?     Have  they  resolved  to  enter  the  lion's  den,  from  which  no  returning  footsteps  can 
ever  be  seen  1    Is  not  the  Constitution  good  enough  for  them '!— or  is  it  so  bad  that  they  would 
commit  it  to  the  hands  of  their  enemies   to  fashion   it  as  they   will '!    The  power  to  make 
amendments  was  given  to  answer  no  such  exigency  as  the  present ;  it  was  given  to  make  that 
instrument  more  perfect,  when,  by  tho  workings  of  the  Government,  experience  having  de- 
tected defects  to  be  cured  and  evils  to  bo  remedied,   the   application  of  it  could  be   made  by 
general  concurrence,  and  without  hazard  t'j  tho  public  peace.    Hence  it  was  that  so  soon  as 
it  was  seen  that  a  State  might,  by  construction,  be  sued  by  an  individual,  an  amendment  wus 
proposed  and  carried  to  correct  the  evil.    So,  too,  when  it  became  apparent   that  the  desig 
tion  of  the  electoral  vote  for  President  an.l  Tice-Pre?ident,  was   necessary  to  preserve  the 
harmony  of  the  States,  the  States  concurred  in  an  amendment  accordingly:  and  so,  too,  whci 
a  young  prince  was  born  of  an  American  alliance  with  the  Bonaparte  family,  tho  Slates 
currediu  an  amendment  excluding  from  office  any  citizen  whoslmuM  a.-cept  a  title  of  nobi 
or  honor,  from  any  ErnpiTor,  King,  Prince  or  foreign  power.    These  BeTWd  arnendm 
were  made  in  the  true  spirit  of  the  Constitution.    At  this  moment,   public  sentiment 
ing  two  proposed  amendments,     hich  I  think  would  bo  an  improvement  of  that  i 
one,  to  limit  the  President  to  a  single  term  ;  the  other,  to  prohibit  the  appointment  o 
bcrs  of  Congress  to  office,  during  tho  period  for  which  they  shall  have  been  elected 

Now,  by  a  sudd-n  and  very  strange  after-thought,  as  it  seems  to  me,  this  provis 
Constitution  is  to  be  made  applicable,  in  times  of  excitement,  to  great  and  c 
exigencies  :  so  that,  whenever  five  or  six  States  shall  become  dtaatisfled  - 
tion,  they  may  command  the  rest  to  assemble  in  convention,  to  alter,  new-rnOdc 
As  I  do  not  read  any  thing  like  this  in  that  instrument,  and  as  our  old  Republic 
rejects  every  power  but  that  derived  from  its  strict  letter,  opposed  to  all  construe! 
not  unite  with  our  fellow-citizens  in  the  call  of  a  General  Convention.    If  the  power 
granted,  it  must  be  an  efficient,  not  a  nugatory,  power.    The  minority  State 
B 


X,  APPENDIX. 

tho  majority  States  to  assemble,  and  it  must  be  the  duty  of  the  majority  State*  to  obey,  they 
cannot,  by  silence,  or  evasion,  or  'iirect  negation,  escape.  If  they  refuse,  if  they  evade, 
if  they  are  silent,  it  must  be  shown  how,  according  to  the  letter  of  the  Constitution,  that 
silence  or  evasion  or  negation  is  to  be  taken.  Is  a  sovereign  State  compel!  'b!e,  nt  tho  point 
of  the  bayonet,  to  answir  aye  or  no  ?  And  how  is  silence  '  •••!?  Jtisca? 

how  a  majority,  claiming  a  given  power,  mny  ask  to  concur  ii>  making  that 

p.mi-r    i!i»;v    .  \|  ]•' ;t!y    ;i    j.:irt    i.f    t!  •  .  !i..w    ii 

minority.  protesting  against  the  exercise  of  the  power  c«n  c<  n«trnin  tl" 
make-  it  a  part  of  the  ConMitn:  v  'on  it.  unl.^>  it  ran  'H-  »hn\\n  that  the  Consti- 

tution hriji  "  '  i'Xpr  A-c. 

Tin  '  •  -lortoJ   by   public  sentiment,  hns.  fur  n  ' 

abuses  and  usurpations,  so  disfigured  and  disgraced  the  Constitution,  that  if  all  hut 
retitoi.T  mat  tter  for  grave  consideration  whether  that  instru- 

ment  was  D' •  ind  had,  in  every   legal  ..f  tin' 

• 

n  two  or  m  •• 
should  U-  bound,  and  the  <  "he  immutable  law  is  that  all  iw   lnnm-l  or 

•iieless,  a  majority  of  Congress,  whether  considered  a«  n  :  .  to  carry 

the  powers  express- h  >ve  assumed  tlie  right  to  inter;  : 

«'t  pleasure;  nnd  have  so  r  mmon 

defence  >.  has  been  claimed  as  a  fair  and 

I'j  the  General  Government,  until,  at  last,  instead  of  a  li-  r  defined  pur- 

POMS,  •  irwsing  or  claiming  to  engross  nil  the 

my  government,  and  even  some  which  ought  not  to  belong  to  BIP 
under  -  .  my  good  s  ;iropose  to  go  in:o  a  ronv< 

••••ial — if  int"  <  ;r<-d  to 

• 

to  the  ft  <  "n  the  shadow  of  • 

a  f.wmul  reclamation  nf  n'l  •  md  privileges,  whicli,  in  the  exchange  of  o'|ui 

\-M  h:i  1  <-\i>:  .  your  peculiar  jjoi-itinn  an  : 

if  into  a  tp--  ••  pared   for  a  J.T..IV 

^iory  propo-i-  irhcrsccnrity 

•lly  f  ir  tin'  r  n    LotO  the  CoUtttBtlon,  of  tl>6  T 

long    and  sircnu^'i-  ':»imed    nnd    • 

iii'licati'ins  of  pui>l:  •  thi-<  inorurnt  nro  noerrtiig,  that  an  orer whelming  m 

Mii'Mit:  anii  it  may  bohoova  yon,inall  wi«lom.  t  •  for  an 

impn^  -.\  Cro.sar  and  thr  pu:  ae,  that 

you  an?  to  come  out  of  a  -imni  and  dvspoilcd.  it  mny  ''•>  well  to  think  of  some 

other  n  <!iinkof 

any  better  than  tin-  <  I'.v  which,  HO  f.ir,  nl'liMiiL-li  we  li." 

from  stoniH.  we  luivo  fpvTi  -  •  •  -I'-.iti'in.  if  the   (jovcnimunt 

bo  administered  ac^  —  u«  Ixnly  asks  more  than  justice;    and    jn- 

.  .tt'.-n  instruments  can  wcnro  it.    For  all  extf  rntil   i  govern- 

ment  is  stronger  t'  I  ^ttst   in   the  world— its  strength  depends  not  less  on  the 

integrity  of  the  States,  than  on    that  common  consent  and  enlightened,  opinion,  on  which 
all  our  institutions  arc  founded,  and  by  whi--h  they  must  be  held  together:  arvl  w)>  • 
aM,  is  t'.f-  foundation  of  these,  bnt  jnsti'-  il  that  the  right  of  representation 

can  gi\  \Vithin  the  pal-  and  It-ttor  of  the  Constitution,  tlu  n 

to  be  sure,  as  much  our  r<-  •'.  Congress  as  the  man  of  Georgia — beyond  that 

pale  an'l  let:T.  h< >-.  ;ifl    much  a  stranger  n«  tho   represent,-"  '  md  or 

Ireland  in  the  British  Parliament;  and  this  i«  all.  in  thi*  reppect,  that  wo  could  ask.  Are 
there  no  means,  then,  by  which  Congress  can  be  held  to  th"  letter  of  tiio  C.  -i-iitutiun?  I 
answer,  no  constitutional  means  but  the  MM,  lx>r,  uiile?s  the  power  of  amendment,  in  the 
sense  I  have  interpreted  it,  be  so  considered.  The  right  of  petition,  of  remonstrance,  of  discus- 
sion, are  only  auxiliaries  by  which  the  one  or  tho  other  may  bo  supported.  But  if  these  fail ; 
if  that  power  which  decrees  its  own  supremacy,  perseveres  to  enforce  it;  must  every  thing 
yield  to  force?  Force  may  vanquish  everything— reason,  right,  truth,  justice  ;  and  it  Is 
because  force  may  do  so.  that  we  have  erecK-rl  barriers  to  defend  reason,  right,  truth  »nd 


APPENDIX.  Xj 

Justice.  These  barriers  are  the  sovereign  States  of  this  Union,  which,  whatever  the  old  fed- 
eralists and  monarchy  men  may  say  of  them,  were  absolute  sovereigns  on  the  Declaration  of 
Indspendence,  are  sovereigns  now,  and  will  remain  so,  until,  by  the  voluntary  surrender  of 
their  sovereignty,  they  please  to  make  themselves  slaves — but  I  trust,  of  all  who  shall  make 
that  surrender,  Georgia  will  be  the  last. 

But,  you  will  ask,  how  is  this  doctrine  to  work?  I  gee  no  more  difficulty  than  is  inseparable 
from  the  management  of  all  human  affairs.  You  have  the  passions  and  interests  of  men  to 
encounter  at  every  step ;  and  these  must  bo  so  met,  as  to  make  them  work  rather  for  good 
than  for  evil. 

For  ordinary  grievances,  we  have  said  there  is  no  constitutional  remedy  but  the  ballot-box 
— fjr  extraordinary  and  extreme  ones,  there  is  no  remedy  but  the  sovereign  power  of  the 
States  ;  and  in  extreme  cases,  you  repose  yourself  upon  the  sovereign  pnwer,  for  the  very  rea- 
son that  the  constitutional  remedy  fails.  This  sovereign  power,  at  last,  is  in  communities  little 
more  than  the  right  of  self-defence  and  self  preservation— of  the  exercise  of  which,  it  is  the 
sole  judge,  because,  in  this  respect,  it  is  independent  as  well  as  sovereign.  It  acknowledges  uo 
law  but  the  law  of  nature  and  nations,  which,  in  the  settlement  rf  controversies  between  States, 
ncknowl  dgps  110  means  but  negotiation  and/orcc.  Shall  wo  stop  here  to  inquire  which  will 
serve  us  best,  in  the  long  run,  the  doctrine  which  acknowledges  the  sovereignty  of  the 
States ;  which  recognizes,  in  extreme  cases,  the  right  of  this  sovereignty  to  defend  itself,  to  ne- 
gotiate, to  make  treaties;  which,  in  a  spirit  of  amity  that  consigns  the  part  to  oblivion,  wi',1 
re-unite  dissevered  States,  who,  being  generous  enemies,  are,  once  more,  and  on  that  account, 
cordial,  and,  perhaps,  inseparable  friends;  or  that  which  admits  the  absolut-  supremacy  of  the 
Federal  Government,  its  right  to  whip  a  State  into  the  Union,  and  to  hold  it  there  forever,  by  brute 
force  ?  I  know  it  is  said  this  power  in  the  States  is  inconsistent  with  the  power  confided  to  the 
Federal  Government ;  that  for  light  and  trivial  causes,  States  may  and  will  have  recourse  to  it,  by 
which  the  Union  will  be  constantly  agitated,  and,  finally,  dissolved.  Let  us  see  if  this  apprehen- 
sion is  well  founded.  A  State  has  the  undoubted  right,  (undoubted  even  yet,)  to  change  Its  own 
Government  at  pleasure,  consulting  only  its  interests  and  happiness,  regulating  all  its  internal 
concerns,  with  its  right  of  soil  and  jurisdiction  so  absolute  that  the  Federal  Government  cannot 
claim  to  erect  an  arsenal  or  fort  or  dock-yard  within  its  limits,  without  its  express  consent.  Hero, 
then,  is  a  community,  by  the  power  of  solf-governroent,  made  free  and  happy  at  home,  wanting, 
for  the  consummation  of  that  happiness,  scarcely  any  thing  but  protection  against  powers  strong- 
er than  itself.  Will  these  be  put  to  hazard  for  light  and  trivial  causes?  Reason  says  no — the 
public  law  says  no.  The  public  law  forbids  the  presumption  that  communities  will  act  im- 
prudently— it  presumes  them  to  be  governed  by  a  sound  discretion — not  that  they  are  alwa.<  s 
so  governed,  but  that  their  acts  alone  shall  speak  for  them.  Experience  justifies  the  public 
law.  Fifty  years  of  Union,  without  convulsion,  is  no  trifling  evidence  of  intelligence,  of  pru- 
dence, of  subordination,  of  contentment.  Dow  many  guarantees,  besides,  are  to  bo  found 
ag  linst  hasty  and  inconsiderate  action,  by  which  great  blessings  are  to  be  lost.  An  insulated 
Saite  may,  for  a  moment,  rescue  liberty ;  but  liberty  is  not  t.i  b?  maintained  without  independ- 
ence, and  independence  cannot  long  be  maintained  by  an  insulated  State.  A  solitary 
resting  on  its  own  limited  resources,  with  great  wants  for  internal  and  external  objects,  sur- 
rounded by  other  States,  (united  for  common  defence,)  must  be  exposed  to  evils  and 
annoyances,  from  which  the  wisest  councils  cannot  exempt  her.  Possessing  sovereign  right*, 
herself,  she  must  so  exercise  those  rights  as  not  to  interfere  with  the  sovereign  rights  of 
others.  The  right  of  way  and  of  fie1  passage,  the  regulation  of  trade  and  commerce,  so  apt  to 
conflict  with  those  of  others,  framed  in  a  different  spirit— these,  and  many  of  kindred  charac- 
ter would  bo  sources  of  endless  embarrassment  and  vexation.  I  would  rather  say,  upon  the 
whole,  that  the  States  would  not  secede  for  light  and  trivial  causes— that  crave  and  \v 
considerations  alone  could  influence  them— that  only  some  grievous  oppression  or  frightful 
tyranny,  driving  them  to  despair,  could  divide  them  from  the  Union.  Arc  there  not  somo 
reasons  fur  this  belief  ?  We  hear  the  cry  of  Union,  Union,  from  all  quarters,  as  if  there  were 
nothing  left  in  this  world  worth  preserving,  but  Union— so  that  the  friends  of  liberty  and 
union  may  well  doubt  whether  the  people  love  libarty  less  or  union  most.  Seo  what  has  been 
submitted  to  for  many  years,  with  a  degreee  of  patience  and  forbearance,  which  might  be  con- 
strued into  something  not  to  be  named:  Unnecessary  taxes,  to  tmke  a  splendid,  of  what  was 
designed  to  be  a  simple  and  e:onon>ical,  Government— the  taxes  levied  on  the  many  to  pro- 
mote the  interests  of  the  fow— the  revenues  distributed  for  objects  of  Internal  Improvement, 


xn  APPEXDIX. 

where  the  taxes  wer  '  the  extravagant  expcudituiv  of 

pnblic  moneys — dormant  claims  on  the  Government  revived,  and  ]-•  Mishcd 

on  principles  so  loose,  as  to  •  : 

:-.r  fie  Federal  Go\  •    »  hi.  h    it  in  authori/rd  to  do.  it 

assumes  the  can- and  n-gnlati. 'ii  "f  nianufai.tmv- :  and  tin  n  <l,o  tian-ition  H  •  a*y  t->  i! 
•  —HO  it  the  tr. 

.•utioii.    \\ntild    ha\  •  ,  that 

rven  in 

Congr«'--  'v"   :i"'l   '  •  -|''ii.   ' 

mill  to  i-hin  n  :     It  i- 

!,  in  ordinary  and  j.eitcrlV. 

•II.. I  :i 
:-.|IV   of 

..i.wi^' 

:\    liiiUVIll.-lit. 

il.iwn  with  lip.  If  tin- 

i  ini-ni 
large  .- 

liy  which,  iniissv'H  of  - 

and  if  tin-  pri-..^.     1-  D.     It-; 

^upiviui-  judicial  tribunal,  wliich. 

- 

\  .  11.  ainll'.     Tli'  -  •.  ymi  v. 
proiiMiiucc  null  uud  . 

'  i'.y.     It  in. i\  : li-T.         It  I: 

it'   tli-  '  "iiiiuuiiity,  within  the  chartered  limit*  of  a  -  :>t.  and 

1'iititli-d  t"  ti  nt.       It  may  ...jitn.l  tlr-   .  riminal    juri.vlirtion    mid 

lli.-    ri  iinir.  •  •  /•')•(•;«.• 

rota  f    l(  tli 

in.th'  :  -li't'.  lid 

:  witli  that  unity,  on"'  and  indivi- 
1          '.ily  not.     lint  thtn  i'  '-laiin.  at  tli'' 

.    .  Ires,  \vr  IT..; 

and  1'aiiai-i'ju".    Thi1  >tat- s  f'iniii'd  the  Qovernment  of  the  United  States — th.  .- 
it.     From  tli 

alter  it.  a  majority. 
jority  ii  !,    th  -y 

If  tln-y  witlihuM   I'  ,  il  i-  tli'-  can;- 

is,   ind'-i-d,  BO  . 

:•  to  i-nd  ii— it  wi'iilil  I).- ji 
Vi'-nna  a  n.iti  >n.  d. -riving  its  authority  ' 

:   .li.'ii  "f 

f'.r   th'-  in  w   ^im-rniiii-nt 
powor  nt   iidopti-d   i 

• 
ci'\ild,, 

iiu.-iit  \...;il  1  .-iii-Wri-  nil    thf  i-inl- 

nal    liiiiit.-i. 
It  i-,  the  d'^i-arturc  from  UK-SM  iii.,ii. ;  .;  ig  the 


APPENDIX.  xnr. 

exercise  of  doubtful  powers,  equally  prohibited  by  the  Constitution,  which  hus  at  any 
time  brought  the  General  Government  into  collision  with  the  States. 

lu  scribbling:  thus  much,  I  think  I  may  have  answered,  out  of  order,  no  doubt,  all  your 
inquiries.  1'he  result,  according  to  my  poor  opinion,  is.  that  there  is  no  power  given  by  the 
Constitution  to  resist  the  laws  of  the  United  States. 

The  only  Constitutional  remedy  for  unconstitutional  laws,  is  the  ballot-box. 

Amendments  of  the  Constitution,  petition,  remonstrance,  conventions,  correspondence  aud 
o  >nsultations  of  the  States — these  (if  yon  pleas*.-  to  call  them  remedies.)  are  not  unconstitu- 
tional. . 

Under  a  government  founded  on  consent  and  opinion,  evils  are  to  be  borne  as  long  m  pos- 
sible. 

The  States,  in  virtue  of  their  sovereignty,  when  evils  are  no  longer  supportable.  >iui-i 
the  evil  and  the  remedy. 

The  sovereign  knows  but  two  modes  of  settling  controversies,  negotiation  aud  w.ir. 

tuition  admits  of  arbitration ;  and  controversies  may  be  referred  to  other  State  :  but  thU 
i-  by  rwgpnt.  and  11  t  by  the  Constitution.  It  is,  of  course,  not  permissible  to  one  of  the  parties 
to  refer  it  to  its  own  Courts  and  Juri"-:. 

When  States  cease  to  have  an  interest  in  the  Union,  or  sutler  extreme  oppression,  it  is  better 
that  they  withdraw  peaceably,  than  that  blood  should  be  shvd  in  conte<<.  whieh  s  Mom 
decide  any  thing,  and  which  are  apt  to  separate  the  parties  forever. 

As   States  may  do  very  imprudently  and  unwisely,  what    they    h;m-    a    right  to  do,  it 
becomes  them  to  act  very  deliberately  and  cautiously ;  becau-e  it  is  lawful  for  otlin-  Sr 
unite  against  them  to  compel  a  fulfilment  of  their  obligations  under  the  public  law. 

You  ask  what  Georgia  ought  to  do?     My  worthless  opinions  had  been  given  on  formi  t 
••i'  'i  i  -.and  you  know  what  use  has  been  made  of  them.     Those  opinions  were  unchanged,  and 
are,  as  I  think,  unchangeable — they  amounted  to  this :  if  the  abuses  and  usurpations,  of  which 
we  complain,  are  continued,  and  become  the  settled  policy  of  the  Government,  the 
having  identical  interests,  ought  to   withdraw — but  it  was  indispensable  to' a  movement  like 
tli is.  that  there  should  be  union  ;  that  this  union   should  be   the   result  of  a  deep  and  s, -tiled 
conviction,  that  such  policy  wa<  Inconsistent  with  the  paramount  ;.  prosperity 

and  happiness  of  the  State  ;  and  not  a  temporary  union  produced  by  an  artificial  excitement. 
A  united  people,  even  of  one  State,  might  rescue  liberty  for  a  time ;  but,  without  the  means  of 
maintaining  ;>'  /itiulence,  liberty  could  not  be  preserved. 

It  was  necessary,  therefore,  that  other  States  having  common  interests,  should  bo  prepared 
to  think  and  act  with  us;  and  it  was  altogether  proper,  that,  for  this  purpose,  a  system  of 
correspondence  and  consultation  should  be  organized,  as  the  best  means  of  producing  union. 
My  own  belief  was,  that  the  Tariff  would  not  yield,  and  could  not  be  made  to  yield,  but  to 
Borne  interest  -,i-. 'iig-.T  than  the  interest  in  manufactures ;  and  I  knew  but  one  that 
and  that  was  the  interest  in  Union.  It  could  not  be  doubted  that  tlio  Northern  State  -  ' 
much  concerned  in  preserving  the  Union  n?  ourselves  ;  and  it  >vas  altogether  fair,  that,  in  tin- 
last  resort,  we  should  present  to  th-ni  th  ^  plain  alternative,  either  "  to  return  to  t/ie  bargain 
and  ttick  to  the  bargain,  or  ffttx  up  the  Union"  If,  unhappily,  it  should  turn  out  that  Up- 
take more  interest  in  manufactures  than  in  Union,  it  is  my  deli!  erate  opinion  the  Union 
i.s  not  worth  preserving.  In  all  this  we  have  considered  n<>t  so  much  what  ni^hi  be  done,  raid 
rightfully  don-,  by  the  sovereign  Siati/s  of  this  Union,  as  what  maybe  wisely  done.  Do  what 
we  may,  and  let  what  of  evil  come,  we  will  have  the  consolation,  that,  from  the  '  ginning  10 
the  end,  we  have  been  passive  subjects,  and  the  adverse  party  active  agents.  The  ab;:.- 
usurpations  practiced,  and  the  burdens  imposed,  have  been  of  a  positive  character— wo  h.i-.e 
done  nothing  but  beg  relkf  from  them. 

You  hav  insisted  on  my  opinions,  and  I  have  given  them.  No  one  could  ask  them  with 
more  propriety  than  yourself.  You  have  been,  all  your  life,  a  unii'.  •  republican, 

and  as  mur-li  devoted  to  the  prosperity  of  the  State,  and  Stut  s  to...  :is  Uny  man  in  it.  Tho 
stake  which  you  and  all  of  your  name  and  family  have  in  it,  is  pledge  sufficient  for  your 
loyalty  and  discretion  ;  and  the  passion  for  liberty  that  was  boru  with  you,  is  absolute 
jC'i-urity  that  you  cannot  be  a  slave. 

Your  friend, 

G.  M.  TP.OCP. 


xrvr.  APPENDIX 

[The  following  letter  is  the  out  to  which  reforence  is  made  in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  thU 
work,  as  relating  to  the  Currency  quo---.. 


LAI  16th,  1840. 

My  Dt-iir  Sir:     It;  i.tken  tiny  part   In   President-making.    When 

Mr.  Crawford  was  m,  ^,-ton  to 

•     • 
with  L-  -:••  of  men  and  things,  and  of  sufVi 

'.  was  no 

-utes  might  contnv 

havu  li  . 

iily  in  its  sn!  : 

1!"  I  t.iil',1  iii  my  -  :it   tlii-i 

,u  the  cry  of  Loafers,  Loco  Focoa.  - 
tin-  lik> — Irt  those  who  huv 

;iof  the  office-hunt 

>  the  UK  and  a 

me  to  uso  anil  a'.;. 

|,1  lint:  .'ith  it  ; 

I. nt.  in  tip-  MOM  w- 

•Ion. 

The  relation  in  wi. 
me,  giv  .hen   you   pi 

Vfli  i: 

icr  not  cmly  wi.^o  uiiil  v«-i 

alway:  n 
unreasonable,  that  ;i 

. 
.i:ig  to  look  upon  n  great  :\i-r,  a  tli-alrr 

lll!l    UUil  \vill. 

nit  of  many  • 
.v  luyiiii:  1 1.  . 

«..pi,M  I..- -i:iK-thin^:uii.l  tn  i  dime  nndiH:  >ur  pocket,  \v 

tiiii,^  IIIMI ••• :  I. ut  it"  tlii-  (U'uk-r  >-.i  lir.iit,  tlmt  we  soon  began  to  see  we  could  conn;. 

:  il»  fur  m.i:l.  had  derived  a  pn 

and  that  in^  ii^   countrj'.    If  the  dealer  happened  so 

;i-  !••>  supply.  id  uiiiluniily.  a  small-change  circulation,  or  p 

(•  in  glaring  > 

;.u  1  which  the  future  wo\iM  litiil  with  t)i:inU»givingonil  praise;   and  tho  more  joyou 
«h:U  WH.J.  willbp  tiu  urn- .-.  m.il  \\\\ .  trover,  at   lcu*t  as  long 

•  in  L,  '1  i  ari'l  :n  be  accompli-Oird  by  n 

\'.   anything  about.  .;ings  will  be  large  enough.    2dly,  it  will 

be  to  the  same  amount,  or  nearly  so,  from  year  to  year,  la  times  of  pusco  increasing  gradually, 


APPENDIX.  XV. 

perhaps  In  proportion  to  an  increasing  population,  and  a  consequently  increasing  expendi- 
ture. 3dly,  pnying  and  receiving  equal  amounts  in  equal  times,  or  nearly  so,  the  small  change 
circulation  could  never  be  suddenly  contracted  or  enlarged.  I  will  not  pretend  to  ?ay  what 
the  amount  of  small  change  in  circulation  should  be  in  a  such  a  country;  it  is  sufficient,  if 
it  give  you  only  the  changa  for  a  shia  of  beef  to  the  butcher,  and  a  loaf  of  bread  to  the  baker, 
per  diem.  But  it  must  necessarily  give  a  great  deal  more — perhaps  all  we  van t.  Stating  the 
average  revenue  and  expenditure  at  twenty  millions,  some  four  or  five  millions  of  specie  will 
suffice  to  carry  on  the  annual  operation ;  the  balance  in  the  country,  whether  it  be  forty,  fifty, 
sixty  or  seventy  millions,  will  bo  left  to  sustain  the  paper,  which,  whether  it  amounts  to 
one  hundred  and  twenty  or  two  hundred  and  ten  millions,  will  be  quite  ample  for  all  the 
demands  of  trade  and  commerce — perhaps  quite  enough  to  satisfy  the  cravings  of  the  most  ex- 
travagant of  the  paper-mousy  lovers.  This  paper  will  he  so  much  the  sounder  than  it  would 
.  i:-o  be,  because,  instead  of  comparing  paper  with  paper,  as  you  are  now  forced  to  do, 
you  would  compare  it  with  an  ever  present  standard  of  gold  and  silver.  An  additional  and 
certain  effect  of  a  merely  metallic  currency  for  governmental  purposes,  would  be  the  check  if 
would  furnish  to  the  extravagances  and  aberrations  of  Government,  an  effect  not  to  be  liditlv 
estimated. 

You  perceive  I  am  sanguine  in  my  predictions  of  the  salutary  consequences  of  this  much 
condemned  measure,  of  which  you  have  a  simple  statement  of  my  opinion  or  belief,  without 
the  argument.  I  supposed  you  asked  no  more.  An  argument  on  a  financial  subject  is  not 
worth  much  ;  what  would  appear  a  good  system  on  paper,  might  turn  out  to  be  a  bad  one 
in  practice,  and  an  indifferent  or  objectionable  one  on  paper,  a  very  good  one  in  pi- 
bat  an  argument  against  a  system,  founded  on  the  dishonesty  of  mankind,  is  a  very  false  one ; 
men  must  carry  into  effect  systems ;  men  must  collect  and  men  must  disburse  the  \ 
revenue  ;  ami  it  matters  nothing  whether  that  revenue  be  of  gold  and  silver  or  of  paper. 
If,  indeed,  the  paper  be  good  for  nothing,  that  is  sufflcieut  security  against  embezzlement :  if 
equally  good,  it  is  more  easy  of  embezzlement  than  gold  and  silver.  Will  it  matter  much  if 
the  men  who  collect  and  disburse,  happen  to  be  Whigs  or  Democrats  ?  I  have  pretty  much 
the  same  confidence  in  both;  the  one  set  have  been  already  there  to  steal  and  plunder;  the 
oilier  have  yet  to  come. 

From  this  project  to  deal  in  gold  and  silver,  I  have  never  been  able  to  conjectu  1m  .v.  l.y 
any  possibility,  loss  or  detriment  can  accrue  to  any  body.  Is  it  true  the  mass  of  the  com- 
munity is  so  corrupt,  that  it  is  willing  to  deal  in  nothing  but  bad  paper ;  or  do  the  politicians 
l>?r.<uade  them  they  will  have  a  bank,  the  extinguisher  of  all  other  banks,  whose  pap<r 
will  be  equal  to  gold  and  silver  ?  Instead  of  loss  or  detriment,  I  have  seen  no  inconvenience 
to  result  to  any  body,  except,  indeed,  in  the  first  instance,  to  the  merchant ;  to  bun  it  will  be  a 
novel  operation,  for  a  time,  but  for  a  short  time ;  if  it  costs  him  more  trouble  and  expense  to  be 
always  ready  to  meet  the  custom-houso  demand,  he  knows  how  to  charge  that  expense  to  his 
customer ;  and,  my  word  upon  it,  the  consumer  of  his  merchandise  win  be  the  last  to  com- 
plain, if  ho  sees  nothing  in  an  insignificant  charge,  but  a  redemption  from  evil  suffering,  and 
a  restoration  to  the  comforts  and  enjoyments  of  life,  to  which,  in  every  country,  the  pocket  and 
traveling  money  in  gold  and  silver  coinage  so  eminently  contribute.  The  very  fraction  of  a 
per  cent.,  charged  by  the  merchant,  for  his  trouble  and  expense  of  keeping  geld  and  silvr-r  to 
answer  occasional  demands,  will  bo  more  than  repaid  by  the  direct  tendency  of  the  operation 
to  keep  that  gold  and  silver  at  home,  which  might  otherwise  go  abroad :  it  will  be  by  so  much 
the  more  valuable  at  home,  and  therefore  cannot  leave  the  country. 

But  enough ;  every  body  tiros  of  this  dry  and  hitherto  unproducti  riie  President 

should  long  since  have  compelled  his  party  to  carry  out  the  measure. 
Very  sincerely  and  truly. 

G.  M.  Titjrr. 

[The  two  next  letters  are  those  addressed  to  the  gentleman  at  Mobile,  and  to  which  reference 
's  made  in  the  fourteenth  chapter  of  this  work.] 


YALDOSTA,  LAUBEXS  COTTXTY,  GEORGIA,  loth  Sept.  1849. 


XVT.  APPENDIX. 

some  little  eerTice  to  the  State.     A  -Montgomery  li-tti-rn 

oune  to  hand,  announcing  the  Barbecu*  \  itation  v -ere  FO  ki 

make  the  san:.  motives  in   t.n-   world,  have  niailc.    You 

may  conceive  the  roluctancc  and  unfeigned  regret  with  whi  .lerline  a  com- 

pliance with  their*,  and  now  to  decline  a  o 'nip! iai.r  •   with  \onr>.    Tlj-    ^  :\rra',   M:L'. 
my  l.'tte--.  was  the  disinclii;  >no»t  to  abhon  •earinp  in  the  news- 

papers  so  often.  ai,d  especially  upou  th?  same  subject,  am  if  I  had  resolved  to  force  i 
•  son  a  tired  and  unwilling  puMic.    I  had  firm  my  vim,  la  and  out  «.i  • 

and  BO  frankly,  and  I  tru- 

that  fur  the  future  I  might  -.•.  ith  my  I>CM  -  !f  from  a  i<-|>*-titii>n 

of  what  bad,  on  former  i-ccaclona,  bicn  ;npntly    wit'n 

abuse.  It  i5of  noconaoqnc:  '•.,>  knows  those  view- 

to  use  them  as  you  pleo«e.  i 

:  give  you  an  illustration  of  fanat.  i 

It  was  one  of  his  virtuen  to  be  «»•-  >i  lib  fault.--  humun 

-•«.    He  had  passe.1  '  non,  and  ahed   tears — Unr 

Washii  •   ;civi.l  him,  l>efor«  that,  with   open  an; 

i'"ii  liim.     hi  tli>- camp  hour   If  uoiiM  hnr>-  -  women 

c  nt,  and  your  Btren:, 

in  the  destiny  of  Pt.  I 

•  irrdi^iouj  nn>\  iniiimrnl  !  .  l>\  tin1 

legacy  he  bequeathed  them, 
would  draw  the  sword,  at  any  iiu-n 

•i  try. 
It  w  woritt  'hon  uscles*  tocon'-fil  anything  lro;u  our».-lv.  - 

because  the  civilized  world,  anil,  it  may 
thanono-half  of  oiir«w!ii-o:intrymen,  areagainrt  u«V    Tiiis  i.i  th'-only  . 

•inimity  is  n--i  night   be    n-ali/i-d  : 

"•u?    I  Bay  a  , 
Btate,  without 

powder.  i  tint  our  aiher.«orif<  •,   and 

Mi — iilucation 

— military  resources  of  all  kin'ls;  nud  these  su-  "'.\\f   in  it-  military 

end  naval  power — ready  for  combat  at  ai>  'anyplace,  and   «:• 

thewori'i?     Have  you  u,,t  i  ,.  that  in  the.  v  ry    j'n.iH.rtioii  our  \\< -ukiipsx  wan  di»- 

cloeexi,  in  tli"  sum-  )iroi>ortion  our  advi-ri>ary  advanced,  until  he  a--  •)'.  .ni'i 

nt  our  firesides?    I  say,   then,   ci-a.-iug  ail  Mr.-ur  ami  l>ra\  i  •  n  that 

'.  in  whicli.  if  you  !«•  well  ]  .  Mows  than  they  can  give', 

and  they  know   it.     Uener ,.'  -.voulil  n>.t  In  . 

•rrying  into  practice  i  p    vi:i:;m.l   it   i- only  tip- 

Y  that  in  the  United  States  will  itajr  the  band  or  (top  the  machiiwtio&i  of  tlm 
That  clreail  v"ii  IM-:  to    liim.  in  a  vi-ible,    j  alpiilili-    1""i  :n.     They  kn 

have  oourape  :   but  v  '  \  ins  artillery,  the  most  formidalilo  nnii  in  nuxlern  v 

— where  the  tnnniti«:  th-m  in  the 

field?    If  united  and  ready  for   the  la?t   r«-cou:  •  i  might  yet  be  .«aved  by  the  very 

knowledge  of  onr   adverse  —more  bl. KI.IV   than  that  of  Ghengi*  or 

'••lie — mi.^lit  !)••  inlli-.l  tho  1'..^  nf  1'iii.pn,   siinl  tin-   ln>snf   ti 

accomplish.  Victory  i<  not  always  to  the  strong  ;  and  Alexamder  OOnqnned  ttw  world  with 
littli-  more  thrvn  thirty  thou-and  men.  To  be  sure,  if  tho  abolitionists  -  ek  di-un: 

'inion,  by  peaceful  means — nothing  would  be  more  e;i  areful  as  easy,  be- 

ran-"  wi-  want  no  I "'tter  Constitution  for  our  Government,  than  th-ii  rnx   the  abo- 

litioni-ts  and  our?elres;  but  if  th't  Union         •  i  iiy    fuii'i — t  if  tlie 

aholitionists  resolve  to  force  emancipation,  or  to  force  dishonor  on  tlf  f-'oiithern  States  by  nuy 
net  of  Congress,  then  it  is  my  decided  opinion,  that,  with  the  militot  i  In  i> 

indicated,  conjoined  toagocnl  volunteer,  instea<l  of  a  militi:'..  s>-ti'ni,  tli>  S:atr-  should  march 
upon  Washington,  and  dissolve  the  Government :  an •!  .in-a  ;i-  -.omi  B<  >U'-h  overt  art  of  treason 
shall  have  been  committal  : 


APPENDIX.  xyn> 

AVe  have  always  been  in  the  right-are  still  in  the  right,  and  I  advise  you  to  keep  so     Thov 
are  the  active  agents  of  mischief  and  persecution  :    we    the  passive  subjects..     There  are 

good  men  on  the  other  side  of  Mason  and  Dixon's  line,  and  they  might  incline  to  the  side  of 
an  innocent  and  injured  people.  Even  their  neutrality  mi°;hl  1,,,  useful  ;t!l  t],,. 

army  and  navy:  the  justice  of  our  cause  might  divide  them.  1  assure  you.  my  dew  ib-  few 
men  would  be  more  averse  from  this  latter  alternative,  than  myself:  but  I  have  never  thought 
ot  any  cure  for  our  evil,  short  of  it:  and  if  you  cannot  unitedly  make  up  your  minds  for  it  or 
something  better,  the  talk  about  it  only  makes  the  matter  worse.  In  this  familiar  and  infor- 
mal scribbling  manner,  I  write  to  you,  because  I  believe  you  would  like  if 

As  long  as  we  maintain  braggadocia  style,   th,-   North. >,•;,   p,,,p|,   will   |!lmr!i  at  u<  :  and  1  d,, 
no  t  care  to  be  laughed  at,  and  despoiled  of  what  we  know  to  be  our  own.  at  the  same  time. 

f  the  abolitionists  do  not  wish  disunion,  they  would  keep  as  in  the  Union  by  the  argument 
of  Gen.  Jackson.  Once  in  the  Union,  always  in  the  Union,  is  the  Federal' argument :  but 
perhaps  not  as  strong  as  Gen.  Jack:on's.  I  would  like  to  be  always  well  prepared  to  resist  thcs,- 
arguments,  whether  offered  in  the  form  of  paper  or  iron  bullets.  AVhcn  the  aft 
becomes  strong  enough  to  alter  the  Constitution  and  abolish  slavery,  what  are  you  t. .  do  ?  You 
must  submit,  or  withdraw,  or  resist;  but  withdrawal  or  resistance  would  be  vain,  without 
ad"(|iiato  preparedi;.--- . 

Without  fatiguing  you.  1  dismNs  the  heart-rending  subject,  with  my  K-t  w  ishe-  for  your 
health  and  happine-^. 

<l.  M.  TROUP. 


VALDOSIA,  LAUEEXS  COUXTY,  OCIOIIKR  1st,  ]ii:<. 

My  Dear  Sir:  I  have  deemed  it  best  to  submit  a  few  general  observations,  in  addition  to 
tiioso  which  I  took  occasion  to  offer  in  answer  to  your  late  \cry  able,  kind  and  friendly  letter. 
i-.nd  in  elucidation  of  them.  They  embraced  a  few  reasons  or  motives  for  declining,  most  re- 
spectfully, a  very  reasonable  and  most  patriotic  request,  which,  without  a  good  reason,  ought 
not  to  have  been  declined;  and  I  was  willing  to  submit  to  your  courtesy  and  generosity  the 
.sufficiency  of  the  reasons.  I  superadded  a  word  on  the  subject  of  remedy  for  our  present 
grievances',  to  which  you  were  pleased  to  invite  my  attention:  and  now  I  take  leave  to  trouble 
yon  with  a  second  but  very  short  letter.  e\planaiory.  a  little  more  fully,  of  my  pour  opinions 
in  connection  with  that  remedy. 

The  illustration  of  fanaticism  in  the  character  of  tien.  |,a  Kayctu-,  wa.-;  not  de^ium  ,l  t,,  ,[... 
tract  any  thing  from  the  merits  of  that  really  excellent  man.  It  was  his  limit— his  blot— his 
sin,  in  our  sight.  In  the  sight  of  our  adversary,  it  was  his  crowning  jewel.  At  no  period  of 
our  history  has  the  South  not  suffered  from  the  false  opinions,  or  open  treachery,  of  Southern 
men.  It  cost  Mr.  Jefferson  a  life  of  usefui  service  to  his  COT  ntry  to  compensate  the  iiyurv 
done  t<>  hi-:  own  South  by  his  Notes  on  A'irginia  ;  and  your  I'lvsident,  CJeneral  Taylor,  has  jn-t 
escaped  from  his  responsibilities  by  a  trick.  In  decptie  of  e TOry  thing,  men  will  have  their 
thoughts ;  and  our  Constitution,  a*  it  ought,  gives  freedom  to  the  <  \pres>ion  of  them.  May  it 
always  be  so.  Hut  when  the  overt  act  follows  the  expression,  the  overt  art  being  e\il.  and  of 
tin'  temptation  of  the  devil,  then  it  is,  that  a  matter  of  such  concernment  bn  .inn-  a  deeply 
agitating  question  to  all  concerned :  and  the  more,  if  such  act  In-  ib"  act  of  a  Government.  It 
is  then,  that,  in  such  a  controversy  as  ours,  the  overt  act  is  likely  to  prove  an  act  of  treason, 
and  that  the  action  on  the  one  side  should  be  met  by  correspondent  action  on  the  other,  ami 
so  I  have  advised  yon  to  meet  it. 

Now,  the  probable  action  of  Congress  will  In-  to  prevent  y  m,  by  li.rceofanns.  from  inhabiting 
territory  of  the  United  States  with  your  negro  property,  where  -|IM  h;:-  f,,  '^Mm  y,,n  to  earn 
it.  I  say  you  have  a  right  to  go  there  with  your  negro  property,  and  the  act  of  forbidding  it 
is  an  act  of  treason*  against  the  South  ;  producing  an  actual  state  of  war,  by  an  open  declara- 

:;  I  do  not  use  the  word  in  its  legal  acceptation.  If  we  owe  duties  and  obligations  to  the 
Federal  Government,  this  latter  owes  duties  and  obligations  to  th"  States :  ami  an  a -t.  tanta- 
mount to  an  act  of  war  against  them,  is  moral  treason. 


xvm.  APPENDIX. 

tion  on  the  part  of  the  Federal  Government,  ut;d  makiup  m  the  Uefendai.  r.*    It 

H  nut  worth  our  tiin  their  jiower  o\er  the  siil.jectof  slavery. 

not  elaim  it  a.-  a  p  '••  within  the  Stall's — the  ino-t  inveterate  alioli; 

renounee  it — hut  they  claim  it  in  :  :i-  it'  they  had  any  in.m-  power  over  a  suhjeet 

<>(  projM-rty  there,  than  they  had  uv.-r   tie-    trial  by  jury— t:  I  religion — c.f 

anm.  or  any  rig)  '  .illy   to  nil    the   litw-ns   iT  the  I'nite.l 

States,  whert-vi  r  tie  •>  i,.nntry. 

Tlicy  in  vain  seek  for  )K/w<-r  in  tin1  Constitution — 1!< 

of '87.    The  ( i.  Muren  tuamert  any  oth.-r  linlit.  than  tin- 

•\.     Hy  tin-  ti-rm-i  of  theOnlinaii 

n  the  Vnitfii 
States,  Yirjriiiia.Hinl  th"  inh.il.it..-  .1  mul  fntur.-.  n..t    ; 

•  -j.art>.     It  WM IMd> ante  tbt  Artfcb  i-  vain    :in<l 

:hcr  rinlitfu!'  -itiunally  ma  . 

Modtni 

'.•I     til''     lllllit--     of   ti: 

'.   ll:l\i- 

.•.until 
• 

\\.iiil.l   in..-- 

fully  protest  against  It  as  a  ;  MM-   pn--i,.nt    <  :m<l  n- 

i       ink.  that.  11-,: 

()nlin:i:  •••!  i  •.     \\'ll.  h    - 

1'iiiit    Mnv.-ry 

In    ti  ase,  Congress  h:i. I  n. -t   i-vt-n  th- •  !•. 

jiation.     It  F:  i  vitli  tie-  I  :  'nhabl- 

•'vle-lMMiM   lu.    :ilH.|i-he.l    fori-v.  r    -Aithin 

. 

.    ..  ry  in   any  MI.IMIIT 
'•  '  i  .let  IIU'I.-:    • 

gross  had  n<>  '  li-h  it 

1  io    unite  in 

trade,  is  n..*  in  virtue  of  any  p*.\\ei  ulr  of  th.i 

:  oii^   tiling  f..i  Cnn. 

•  rent    thin'.'   fir  the 
v.     Therhai. 

tbe    G'li-tiimi.in.     If  you  e..nl(l,  it 

\\oiil. !  %  ilifl'oreiit  thin^.  l>oth  from  \vhrit  it  i- ami  froii,  I  to  he. 

.  in  truth,  a  voluntary  -nrrender.  mi  your  part,  \vitlioiit  the  »Iiarlo\v  o|  a    • 
ii  a  liLickli'Tfy.      ).•!•  '      vi. n   h:i'l  h.-eii    v\lii|ip'..l  into  i(  liv    tin- 

wnd,  or  eat  o'nine-tails.     Still,  at  1  ...luntary  Mirreniler.     Vuii  liouinl  your.-.  • 

..In  iinw  t"  l  •-titutionnl  ipi 

.  it  is  true.  t'i  •'  10  more  than    what  you  aetn.illy  a^reeil  .it  the 

•very  north  of  latitr.'  .-.'I    within   w 

formerly  tie  ,  •••!  that,  i  -ham.  t'nl    ami   s.-amlaloii-    as    the  surrender 

von    siirreiiilered   nothing,    n-.thin;,'   of  fi-rritory.  to    lie  sure,    hut   you  : siirri-ml-n  .1  tip- 

-  It   ve  make  a  Volunta-  •.    >.f  \vliat    yon 

iin,  it  will  only  atlonl  \..ii  a  pi, -text,    in  fiitiip-,  to   ask    m.  i 

theell,hecnn  iiieh.     You  will    n..t   even  promi-e    not  t<.  a-k  t'"i-  n...re.  and 

laratioii   oi   -  at,    if    IM     are  >;mply  ti. 

'•.-turned  out  at  the  point  of  tii  i  i  h  y  voluntary  assiH-iati",; 

100,000  men  had  gone  into  Callt'.  -  would  have  had  no  remedy  l.ut  1-y  reeoiu  -e  |.> 

th"  army  nnd  navy. 


APPENDIX.  XIX. 


We .foresee,  distinctly,  that  with  regard  to  the  future  acquisition  of  territory,  cither  by  pur- 
chase or  by  conquest,  this  lino  of  36-30  will  be  regarded  as  equally  surrendered— for,  being  a 
line,  marking  a  boundary  of  climate,  into  which  we  have  not,  and  never  will  have,  any  induce- 
ment to  carry  our  slave  property,  the  argument,  if  it  bo  good  for  any  thing,  is  as  good  for 
future  as  for  present  territory."  By  the  by,  although  this  may  have  lieen  tb"  view  taken  of 
it  at  the  time,  it  has  since  turned  out  that,  for  all  mining  purpose*,  slave  labor  would  In- as 
applicable  to  countries  north  of  36-30,  as  south  of  it.  African  slavery  had  its  origin  in  the 
necessity  of  substituting  black  for  Indian  servitude,  for  mining.  So  that,  really,  when  it  was 
supposed  we  had  only  surrendered  a  right,  we  had  in  fact  surrendered  a  substantial  i:iteiv>t 
likewise. 

Now,  the  question  is,  will  yon,  having  once,  for  the  sake  of  preserving  the  Union,  made  a 
voluntary  concession  of  rights  and  interests,  bo  willing  to  make  a.  like  concession  to  preserve 
the  same,  Union  now  ?  I  would  not  have  done  so  then,  nor  would  I  do  so,  now  ;  but  i  am  only 
one  of  the  million.  How  far  are  we  willing  to  go,  and  how  much  mure  are  we  willing  t"  -iv.- 
up  to  preserve  the,  Union '.'  It  is  known  to  yon,  that  there  arc  some  who  are  prepared  In  give 
up  everything.  1  trust  there  never  will  be  found  a  majority  for  this.  'What  then  shall  we 
do?  I  say,  let  us  begin  and  put  our  trust  in  a  condition  of  full  prcparc'ln  •  worst 

contingency,  in  defence  of  all  our  rights  and  interests.  As  we  have  ni'i-4  unwisely  surrender- 
ed our  birth-right  for  less  than  a  mess  of  pottage — as  we  have  surrendered,  in  the  same  man- 
ner, valuable  interests — as.  at  the  same  time,  we  surrendered  aline-t  the  only  argument  that 
ought  to  have  proved  available  for  their  preservation,  may  we,  myself  not  included,  not  again 
make  more  sacrifices  by  consenting  to  extend  the  same  line  indefinitely,  on  the  single  con- 
dition, that  all  countries  South  of  it  shall  be  opened  to  us  forever,  with  a  distinct  understanding 
that  not  a  man  or  a  dollar  would  be  supplied  to  any  future  wars,  but  with  the  full  assurance, 
on  their  part,  that  we  were  to  share  equally  in  their  benefits  as  in  their  burthens  '!  So  much 
might  be  yielded  to  avert  the  greatest  of  all  evils— a  civil  war.  But,  still,  I  am  persuaded  that 
these  sacrifices  would  not,  by  our  adversary,  bo  considered  eiioii-li,  if  not  supported  by  an 
attitude  and  posture  so  palpably  formidable  as  not  to  be  mistaken.  To  bring  abou 
ends,  I  fear  a  convention— more  paper  rcMilutions— I  would  prefer  a  geii"ral  informal  under- 
standing, each  State  engaging  earnestly  and  heartily  in  (he  work  of  preparation,  as  if  the 
result  of  a  common  sense  of  duty  and  safety.  The  States  that  arc  willing  to  co-op  'rate,  would 
soon  be  known  and  distinguished  from  those  who  arc  unwilling ;  and  so  you  would  be  able  to 
estimate  your  strength,  and  then,  if  it  were  deemed  sufficient,  a  convention  might  t'-How.  not 
for  paper  resolutions,  but  for  the  purpose  of  counseling  a-  to  the  be-'  modes  <>(  carrying  KIM 
effect  your  already  fixed  and  settled  purpa-e. 

December  1,  1849.— Two  or  three  days  after  forwarding  my  first  letter.  1  had  written  thus 
much,  when  T  decided  noi  to  send  it,  but  to  await  the  action  of  the  Com.  lifornia. 

If  the  prescribed  boundaries  are  finally  adopted,  giving  the  entire  Pacific  coast  to  the  DOT 
and  all  the  country  north  and  south  of  36-30  to  the  southern  line  of  Oregon,  beMd 
Congress  should  adopt  the  same,  then  1   advise  thai,  yon  take  the  remedy  as  suggested  in  my 
first  letter,  or  the  expedient  of  an  armed  emigration  of   slave-holders  Into  the  territory 
of  36-30,   with  a  resolution  to  hold  it  forever  as  a  slave  country,  or  until  eventually  its  popu- 
lation, as  a  State,  shall  determine  othcrwi-e. 

And  now,  as  California  itself  lias  prepared  the  way  for  toproWwn  tot  I  solved  I 
1  have  no  hesitation  in  relieving  you  from   the  injunction    !  •  :   and  j 

thus  at  liberty  to  make  what  use  you  please  of  my  crude  letters,  with   the  s 
that  you  must  first  believe-  that  some  public  usefulness  may  follow. 
Verv  sincerely  Mid  respectfully, 


[The  two  remaining  letters  have  boefl  noticed  i,,  the  fouileonth  chapter  of  ft*  w,,k.] 

YUI,OST\.  HURKNS  Co.,  (&..  '.i'.'th  Octoto 


which  I  trust  will  prove  satisfactory  to  you 


APPENDIX. 


Ut.    I  am  decidedly  arcrs*  u.  appearinz  in  the  p«blic  print*. 
iJ.    I  h«*e  reoeatodtj,  of  Iato,« 
3d.    With  Tery  great  lilac ta»ra.  I  had . 
i  of  Huhfc,  o*.  the  i 

l«W« 

lil  tl*  reta.>i.T^»-  t,,  wkx-h.  rf  •  ,«.-  .  T  w^ol-i  i.Vl  or  Kibtra.1  nothing. 
It  atnae  that  ahm  the  date  af  that  lettor,  acts  hare  hew  pagnihy  CWgrias  which  have 

•  .  •  .  -  . , 

I  it  vwBfcl  be  Uht  ttfieM»a  •  fcl  wartr  of  trocrS  to  dfcr  y««  the  mw  eahaUxe  iria»i  in 

•fwMMarf 
TWm.  bM*ka,  M  » they  aadraarud 

t'ii-    «.".  --::  v,.  -,:;-;.-  the  Mtvr  ^.f 

'•      - 


de  the  Cot  mor»  to  itnTMl  **•• 
mar  IMP  thm  I  «a*i«-i  in  ttet  MoWe  letter. 

if  I  tMdkadtW  pov«r  tocaO  TM  to  »rm«,  b«  «^«  in  that  cas*  yon 
.    IlBiufciii  i^rtiiiftiMaauif  iBinialliiitllilii,  nilliiil  ililij 


Pr>Ttm.w>«tl  far  wool:  «oJ  they  hare 
? 
of 


i  ** 

Mt  to— *  to  South  Car^iaa.    If 

.    . 

wai    ••   ••!•    IO  •^Kt    •   0W  »g»il      " 

•a  be  iianlaHra   «hhu»t 
ha  to  hart  awd  hi  likri  y  to  he  M« 
.     Ut— The  wiU— 3i.— The   »rejn, 

I*  r  T  .  -  T  ather  Stale  there  i*    n,  Uher  the  oa«  IMT  the  other. 
:  t .  a  man,  *at«aVJ  with  what  CaagfUi  ha>  doa*    afl  the  re* 
ihavedmdad;  with  fie*yect  toCe«rr>,K«e 
•haaiakmeruaataKF,    I  wovdd  camOtf  It 
to  Biiol-i,  u^oat  •  •»|iiailj  of  the  tats*  of  < 
I  be  fc»»ud  iaa»aCiafH  rmj  liBVii  iMy  etraag  to  raaat  all  faMgB 


hat  I  viMU  M«  w«at  far  thai  if  the  caMqr 


I  we  are  dtm«  to  the  hat  illiraatin,  I  wish erery  ••! mil  titntieMl 
i  the  Xonh.    I  wiA  «w  aaoaie  to  be  cowtntljr  <»  the  «ide  of 

t  of  ••  decMam,*  aad  I  WMM  ahtawa  fnm  fedowi«*  the  exavpl* 
North.    Lat  her  g»««i«tha  career  of  TliliriM,wrt«ehe  ha.  heaped  »o  »aay  caak  of  «re  o« 
her  head,  cad  the*  anaea*  to  her  the  bayooK,  with  a  goad  amfritmrf,  *md  with  an  energy 
that  wiD  BBAeher.  H  Beta  (mod.  a  better  aad  a  MMCC  hoMat  MJghbor. 

Xtthfcftr,  hi  BMC*  ea»y,  tf  ye*  wffl  juradt  yowaetfem,  thamtohednw*  into  an  experiawnt 
of  reMedk*  Oat  are  «xtt»«a«*ttt«tie«aL    They  nehidi  y»«  froBi  Territoriea  whfch  are  M 
not  evtode  Northrrn  •»••  from  Tcrritorka  which    are 


r  be  Terr  iJMtawt :  hat,  whflet 


APPENDIX.  XXI 


unanimity  fur  which  tli'-i  ,„  unanimity  would  defeat  it. 

..Citation,  because  Congress  hare  exclusive  power  to  reflate  Comme 

courafe'  :  --at,  for  the  hundredth   time,  and  for  all  that 

.   remedy  for  our  present  grievance,  but  armed  States,  bidding  de- 
.  array  that  t;  r.iust  withdraw  from   its  nnjust  prtten- 

otl-er  assert  its  ri_!  • 

•:  to  or  repeal  of  the   Fagitive  Act.  or  something  worse,  will  ra. 
and  bring  their,  to  think  and  fe*l  and  act  like  brother*,  remain*-  ' 
future  to  di=el.>.;.     In  th<-  thrown  ourselves  upon  a 

will  become  good  citizens  to  abide  its  action. 

Having  th';-  :nake  mj-rtelf 

at  ail  int':ll:SiU:-.  I  tru.-t  you  will  -ee  in   those  few  an  additional  reason  why  they  she:. 
bepabitabcd.    Th,-y  proclaim  our  weak  onrag- 

North  t  j  proceed  :::  -hich  u  what  the  enemies  of  Union  de- 

cau  act  with  safety  iMolo- 

.tliout  a  maj  ..„,]   ,jr;ve  ti 


V.-ry  r ••-;••  •.•tl'ully.  d 


Dr.  Joliu  G.  ^lapiiey. 

_ 


VALDWT^  July  4th,  18ii. 
Dear  Sir :    You  are  quite  welc.  :  ,u  pleuie  with  any  th  iBjr  of  mine  y<m  may  bar* 

.  rovided  you  think  good  may  come  of  h. 

I  have  neither  taste,  inclinati.i:  •  T  controversial  politico:  bntvn,  notwitlMUnd- 

;ndifTerent  to  the  wellare  of  our  conntrv-    If «  word  from  Me  could 

-.  in  any  sense,  it  would  r.ot  be  wanting.    We  see  with  different  eye*,  or  I 

u-ouM  bo  amazed  at  the  opposition  to  the  present  administration,  especially  in  the  Southern 

•oantry.*    T  least  exceptionable  of  all  the  admintotratfaM  we  here 

-  n's  and  Mr.  Folk's  not  except ed .    People  seem  to  be 
.    :  .  flnJ  fault  with.    The  Sontbern   peonle  are 
1  by  honor,  gratitude  and  -  irtain  it  with  all  their  might. 

•*."<7n  ')/•  igralirm  are  mere  pretenpes— the  «JT"'-'-*"1iin  has  »a*fci»g 

to  do  with  either.   The  first  has  existed  at  all  times,  without  complaint ;  the  second  baa  not  only 

..  but  has  been  almost  uniformly  encouraged  by  people  and  gt/venunemt :  and  now  a 

party  b  •;.  •  administration  because  it  wHl  not  destroy  the  KoMan  Catboiici 

andputdow:  •!.    The  tme  grounds  of  oppoaitioa  are  : 

at  the  dUporol  of  the  Prerideat,  when  ooaapared  with 

•  number  of  tho*-  who  seek  them.    2nd.    Ttie  faithfal  and  on&ltering  iategrity 

•I-.  '  against  the  thieves  who  prowL  by  night  an  1  by 

-ragc  with  which  the  President,  in  de- 

fendii..  -   and  moe*  sacred  interest  of  the  South. 

Them       .  .  .  Iministratioo,  is  the  party  ovvmpj'mg  the  lattej  yurotd; 

and  what  a  *pectacl  -; uthern  country :    Mr.  Pierce  and  Mr.  Hale, 

:ted  by  a  vast  majority  of  his  countrymen,  in  a  manner  most  honorable  to  hianrlf,  he 
i-«  threatened  with  overthrow  by  a  majority  almost  as  formidable,  far,  (a-  t  ere* 

plansible  reasons.    'The  reader  will  readily  understand  the  allusion  hen>  to  be  to  President 
PHRCE.- 

f  This  Church  is  mon-  innocent  now.  in  the  eyes  of  all  Protestant  sects,  than   it  has  been 
before  for  two  hundred  years ;  and  there  is  BO*  beneath  the  sun  a  finer  people  OMB  the  p«opii 

"ho  are  made  to  fall  under  the  common  proscription. 


XXII.  APPENDIX. 

liuth  from  New  llainp-hir' — the  uiu-  an  liiuic«t  111:111;  tin1  other  a  Ui-,'ot.  fanatic-  and   abolition- 
ist!    What  :i contract  :     What  etlV.l_:,-nco  !     A\  '     Ami  yet.    tlr-re    an-    Southern 

I  itli  tin-  l:i!t<T.  t"  Ir.i  •!  with  sea;  -ely  nn\ 

.•  than  that  tli  two   iiroiniiu-iit  men, 

ln^  in  lii.->  iliitv,  siinl  tin-  othi-i-   iloin^   \i\*  with   honor   mnl   ailvant.iiri1  to  the   amntrv. 

u    nnkiti    iiiii'  .    tli-v 

would  sow  ili.-4-onl.iinl  divi-iou.     (Mir  !i  .  i  tin-  v.-t •  >.  th'  y  \v..ulil  Ink.' 

' !  •  .  bostn\v    it  .  .to  ic- 

.  a.liiiini-ti., 

of  the  ilay    in    .-\.-iy    a.iinini-nali\  .•    ilr]i:irtin.-nt.    i.nd   whin  the-  i' tin-    ptilili.- 

Against  rapine  ami  >;  'he  c\\han-tion  aiul  l>i-»(piry  of  tin-  tri-n-un  . 

i ; .  M   i 

Dr.  Joh' 

I1.  .<.     Th     I  -M.-iny. 

il    tin-    pnlilir 

have  been  offered  to  any  or  every  )»*\\    «li'lia.la    \ 
inkht  be  qualified  t  • 


3      158  00022  2371 


UC  SOUTHERN  REGIONAL].  BRARY  FAC  LITY 


AA    001  132504    0 


